Psaki Planning To Leave Press Secretary Job in “About a Year”

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On Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki revealed that she would probably leave her current role in “about a year.”

While talking with former Obama official David Axelrod for his podcast, “The Axe Files,” Psaki predicted that she would probably leave her current post in about a year. 

Axelrod asked, “You said at the beginning that you didn’t expect to be in this job forever, for four years and so on. Is that still your thought that at some point you’re going to step away now?”

Psaki replied, “I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job in a year from now or about a year from now.”

She added, “I mean, when I talked to the inner circle of the Biden orbit about this, we talked about coming in and doing this job for a year, which was quite appealing to me for many reasons.” She continued, “One, this is, what a moment in history. Right. To be a part of. It’s always true in the White House. But I think following Trump, especially if you can take the temperature down a little bit, that’s a cool thing to be a part of.”

In most cases, White House roles typically see high turnover rates. For instance, former president trump cycled through four press secretaries in four years. 

However, Psaki cited her young children as a reason for her plan to leave in about a year. She said, “I have little kids, and I don’t want to miss time with them. And, you know, my daughter is going into kindergarten. I have a lot of years with her, but she’s kind of a magical unicorn. And I don’t want to miss moments. I don’t want to miss things.”

Before taking her post as a White House press secretary, Psaki served as deputy press secretary under Obama Administration in 2009, deputy communications director from the year 2009 to 2011, and spokesperson for the Department of State from 2013 to 2015. She also served as communications director from 2015 to 2017, and from 2017 to 2020, she was a CNN contributor. 

However, Psaki mentioned in the podcast that after her stint in the Obama administration, she never envisioned herself returning to the White House. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki made a concerning revelation about what she tells Biden when it comes to taking impromptu questions. 

In a podcast interview with CNN Senior Political Commentator David Axelrod, the White House press secretary admitted taking impromptu questions from reporters “is not something we recommend,” to Biden.

Psaki also claimed that, at times, she would even tell Biden not to take questions from reporters. 

Axelrod then discussed the incident when CNN Political Commentator asked Psaki about a specific instance wherein Biden inadvertently ran into CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins at the White House. Collins then asked the president if a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour would be included in the COVID-19 relief package, signed into law last March. 

Biden answered the question honestly and stated that he does not think the increase in the minimum wage would be included in the COVID-19 relief package.

However, the CNN Political Commentator noted that what Biden said might have given Psaki a lot of heartburn and made her ask herself why Biden would be permitted to walk around in the hallways doing impromptu interviews. Axelrod then asked Psaki how she managed that. 

Psaki merely laughed off the incident. She explained that the incident happened after she already left work and that Biden was on his way back to his residence. Psaki then claimed that Biden takes questions “nearly every day that he’s out in front of the press.” 

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