Biden's communications director to leave White House

Driving the news: Bedingfield will leave her post at the end of February, the White House said. Ben LaBolt, a former adviser to President Obama, is slated to replace her.

• LaBolt will be the first openly gay White House communications director, according to the Biden administration. He spent time in the private sector after the Obama administration, co-founding a media agency with former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that ultimately became Bully Pulpit Interactive, the Washington Post reports.
• Bedingfield served as Biden's communications director from 2015 to 2016 when he was vice president, and then as the deputy campaign manager for his 2020 presidential bid.
• She was expected to leave the White House last July, but ultimately pushed back her departure.

What they're saying: President Biden said in a statement that Bedingfield was "a loyal and trusted adviser, through thick and thin."

• "The country is better off as a result of her hard work and I’m so grateful to her — and to her husband and two young children — for giving so much," Biden said.

Zoom out: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and top economic adviser Brian Deese are among others who have recently left Biden's staff.

• Zach Butterworth, Biden's private sector liaison, is on the way out, too.