White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield will stay on in her role after initially announcing she would leave this summer, a source confirmed to The Hill.
The White House had said earlier this month that Bedingfield would step down after working on the 2020 campaign and in the administration. Last week, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19, and Bedingfield was asked to stay on until he tested negative.
Once Biden tested negative earlier this week, the president asked if she’d consider staying on longer. Bedingfield agreed, the source said, and had already been thinking about extending her time at the White House.
There is no timetable for Bedingfield to depart in the coming weeks or months, the source said.
“A massive thank you to everyone (every. one.) who endured listening to me wax on about how I regretted my decision to leave. There’s so much more to do and I’m so proud and grateful to be part of this team. Onward!” Bedingfield tweeted on Friday.
NBC News first reported on Bedingfield’s change in plans.
The outlet reported that Bedingfield sent a memo to White House staff saying that she was excited about the “awesome — if admittedly last-minute! — development. … The work is too important and too energizing and I have a lot of gas left in the tank.”
Bedingfield is a longtime Biden aide who worked with him during his time as vice president. She quickly became one of Biden’s most trusted advisers and helped catapult him to the White House in a senior role on the 2020 campaign.
She joined the White House as communications director, a job she has held since January 2021.
Her impending exit had raised questions about the communications strategy within the White House and whether there would be a shift as the administration grappled with high inflation, rising gas prices, the war in Ukraine and the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade.
Updated at 4:18 p.m.