Two White House press office staffers leaving for other administration jobs

The White House press office is undergoing a minor staffing shuffle as two aides are departing for other agencies within the Biden administration.

Vedant Patel, who had served as an assistant press secretary since January 2021, will move to the State Department, where he will serve as principal deputy spokesperson under press secretary Ned Price. Patel’s portfolio at the White House included immigration and climate change issues.

Amanda Finney, the chief of staff in the White House press office, will shift to the Department of Energy to serve in a senior communications role. Finney was frequently spotted around the White House press workspace and worked closely with former press secretary Jen Psaki.

Abdullah Hasan, the deputy communications director at the Office of Management and Budget, will join the White House press staff and take over some of Patel’s responsibilities.

While staffing changes are not uncommon, particularly after the one-year mark of an administration, Patel’s and Finney’s exits are part of a broader reshuffling within the White House press shop.

Psaki left last month to take a job with MSNBC and was replaced by Karine Jean-Pierre, who had spent the first 15 months of the administration serving as principal deputy press secretary. And John Kirby moved from his role as Pentagon press secretary to a job in the White House working with the National Security Council.

President Biden and his team are working to find the right message to connect with voters ahead of the midterms as the White House faces a bevy of challenges, including high gas prices, persistent inflation, the war in Ukraine and shortages of infant formula.