Jeff Zients reportedly will be Biden’s next chief of staff

Jeff Zients will be President Joe Biden’s next chief of staff, according to media reports Sunday.

Zients, who helped guide the Biden administration’s response to Covid-19 and spearhead his ambitious vaccine campaign, briefly left the White House in April before returning in the fall to assist current chief of staff Ron Klein to prepare for a change in administration after the midterm elections.

Klein has been open about his intention to eventually leave his post, and he is reportedly preparing to step down in the coming weeks, according to a report Saturday by The New York Times.

Klein, a longtime adviser to President Joe Biden, supported Biden during his 2020 campaign and has helped guide the Biden administration since he was elected to office. After November’s midterm elections and an action-packed two years in the White House, Klein told colleagues he was ready for something different, according to a Washington Post report.

Klein previously served as Biden’s chief of staff during former President Barack Obama’s first term and has worked with Biden since he ran for president in 1987. Zients, by contrast, has spent most of his career in the private sector and first made his foray into politics during the Obama administration.

Although Zients has a relatively limited political background compared to Klain, he is a “master of execution” and “engenders deep loyalty” from his colleagues, the Post reported.

A White House representative did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.