Biden’s chief of staff Reed to leave

Vice President Biden’s chief of staff for nearly three years is leaving the administration at the end of the year to head a foundation advocating for public education. 

Bruce Reed, who has been Biden’s chief of staff since 2011, is leaving to become president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

{mosads}Senior aide Steve Ricchetti will take over for Reed. Ricchetti was hired in 2012 as a councilor to the vice president. He has worked as deputy chief of staff during the Clinton administration. 

He was also a senior adviser on the presidential campaigns of Secretary of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, in 2004 and 2008 respectively. 

“He has a wealth of experience in policy and government; he knows Congress, and he has strong relationships with the West Wing staff,” Biden said. “I’m lucky to have him.”

Before going to the White House, Ricchetti worked at the lobby firm Ricchetti Inc. However, he did not need an ethics waiver to join the administration in 2012 because he had not been a registered lobbyist since 2008 — well past the two-year window. 

Shailagh Murray, communications director for Biden, will move up to deputy chief of staff. She will continue to run the communications shop. 

Biden’s office commended Reed for leading Biden through budget negotiations, the 2012 reelection and the gun control debate. 

“I’ll long be grateful for Bruce’s ideas and wisdom,” Biden said. “The middle class is stronger, the tax code is fairer, the deficit is smaller, and America is safer because of what this administration has accomplished during his time here.”