WASHINGTON — Two White House staffers are expected to depart the Biden administration soon to join Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, as the operation expands in the final 80-day sprint to Election Day, according to two administration officials and one campaign official familiar with the moves who were granted anonymity to discuss internal decisions.
With the departures, the White House is promoting deputy communications director Herbie Ziskend to an elevated role to help handle messaging around President Joe Biden’s legacy, as he nears his final months in office, one of the officials said.
White House principal deputy communications director Kristen Orthman will be leaving her post to join the Harris campaign in a planning role that will coordinate across several departments, these people said.
Former White House aide Kate Berner will continue to serve as a communications advisor to the Harris campaign and will now also serve as a senior advisor to Gov. Tim Walz’s team.
Ian Sams, the White House counsel spokesman for oversight, will move to the campaign as a senior spokesperson. His departure was first reported by The Washington Post.
The Harris campaign plans to announce more new staff roles as early as Friday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Ziskend, who first worked with Biden when he was a senator, also worked for the vice president when she took office for a year and a half before moving over to the White House communications shop.
Ziskend and White House communications director Ben LaBolt will now work more closely together on how the president plans to execute an agenda in the last stretch of his term.
LaBolt called Ziskend a “longtime and trusted Biden aide” in an email to staff on Friday morning, adding that Orthman has been “a bedrock of the operation, capable of taking anything on, running a seamless process, and selflessly helping the team solve any challenge that came up.”