The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is responsible for developing and promoting the agenda of the president and leading its media campaign.
Stephanie Cutter is an American political consultant. She served as an advisor to President Barack Obama during his first presidential term, and was deputy campaign manager for his 2012 re-election campaign. She previously worked in campaign and communications roles for other prominent Democrats including Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Michelle Obama. The New York Times described her as "a popular but polarizing face of [Obama's] campaign", and a "soldier who says the things the candidate can't say."
Anita Dunn is an American political strategist who served as a senior advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, holding the post from January 20, 2021, to August 12, 2021, and again from May 5, 2022 to August 2024. She is currently serving as a senior adviser to the Future Forward PAC.
Steven J. Ricchetti is an American political aide serving as a Counselor to the President under President Joe Biden. He was the chairman of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. Ricchetti previously served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Biden during the Obama administration and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under President Bill Clinton. In between stints in Democratic administrations, Ricchetti has worked as a lobbyist.
Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations, she served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020. As of March 2023, she hosts the talk-show Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC.
Senior Advisor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States. White House senior advisors are senior members of the White House Office. The title has been formally used since 1993.
Evan Maureen Ryan is an American public servant, serving as White House cabinet secretary in the administration of Joe Biden. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in the Obama administration (2013–2017) and was assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Symone D. Sanders-Townsend is an American political strategist and political commentator who hosts MSNBC's The Weekend. She served as national press secretary for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. She left the campaign in June 2016, following the end of the primaries. In October 2016, she was hired as a Democratic strategist and political commentator by CNN.
Herbie Ziskend is an American political advisor and the White House Principal Deputy Communications Director in the Biden administration. He previously served as a senior communications advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris from 2021 to 2022, and as a policy and communications advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011.
Karine Jean-Pierre is a French-American political advisor who has been serving as the White House press secretary since May 13, 2022, and a senior advisor to President Joe Biden since October 7, 2024. She is the first black person and the first openly LGBTQ person to serve in the position of White House press secretary. Previously, she served as the deputy press secretary to her predecessor Jen Psaki from 2021 to 2022 and as the chief of staff for U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential campaign.
Jennifer Brigid O'Malley Dillon is an American political strategist who served as the campaign chair for Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign. She held the same position with President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who served as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She had previously served in his administration as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs. She was White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration. Allen resigned from the State Department on August 2, 2024, to take up a role as chief of staff to Tim Walz, the then-unannounced running mate of Democratic presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris.
Julie Chávez Rodriguez is an American political consultant and was the campaign manager for Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign, transitioning to that role from President Joe Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020, and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week of November and the inauguration on January 20, Biden's presidential transition was shortened somewhat because the General Services Administration under the outgoing first Trump administration did not recognize Biden as the "apparent winner" until November 23.
Ashley Danielle Etienne is an American political advisor who served as the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. She is the former communications director and senior advisor to Nancy Pelosi, the first woman and person of color to hold the position of Communications Director for the House Speaker. She was also a former special assistant to Barack Obama.
Vinay Reddy is an American speechwriter and political advisor serving as the White House Director of Speechwriting. Reddy was Chief Speechwriter to Joe Biden during his second term as Vice President of the United States. After the Obama-Biden administration, Reddy worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications for the National Basketball Association.
Sabrina Singh is an American administrator who has served as the Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary in the Department of Defense since April 2022. Singh previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for Vice President Kamala Harris in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2022.
Kate Berner is an American political advisor who served as a White House principal deputy communications director in the Biden administration.
Ben LaBolt is an American political advisor who is the White House Communications Director to Joe Biden. He succeeded Kate Bedingfield in the role when she stepped down at the end of February 2023. In August 2024 LaBolt was promoted to Senior Advisor to the President succeeding Anita Dunn after her departure. Previously, LaBolt has worked on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama and Howard Dean, as well as for Jan Schakowsky, Sherrod Brown, and Rahm Emanuel.
Olivia Alair Dalton is an American political aide who served as the White House Deputy Press Secretary for the Joe Biden administration. Prior to Biden's presidency, Dalton served as a press secretary during the Obama administration.
