Vice President Biden Announces New Chief of Staff

WASHINGTON, DC – Vice President Joe Biden announced today that Bruce Reed is departing as his Chief of Staff and that he has tapped senior aide Steve Ricchetti to succeed him.

Mr. Ricchetti has served as Counselor to the Vice President since March 2012. Mr. Reed will step down in mid-December to become President of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The Vice President also announced that Shailagh J. Murray will become his Deputy Chief of Staff, while continuing in her current role as Communications Director. 

“Steve and I have been friends for years, and I was thrilled when he joined my staff as Counselor,” said Vice President Biden.  “He has a wealth of experience in policy and government, he knows Congress, and he has strong relationships with the West Wing staff.  I’m lucky to have him.”

“It’s a privilege to serve the Vice President and I look forward to this new challenge,” Mr. Ricchetti said of his next assignment. 

Mr. Ricchetti’s 30-year career in public service, business and political life has included positions on Capitol Hill, the Clinton Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, and 10 years at the helm of an independent public affairs firm. He has a law degree from George Mason University and is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. Ms. Murray, who has run the Vice President’s communications operation since May 2011, worked as a journalist for 20 years at the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Mr. Reed joined the Vice President’s staff in January 2011 and has led the Vice President’s team through a series of budget negotiations, the re-election campaign and a nearly year-long process to tighten gun laws, resulting in 23 executive actions. 

“I’ll long be grateful for Bruce’s ideas and wisdom,” the Vice President said of Mr. Reed. “The middle class is stronger, the tax code is fairer, the deficit is smaller, and America is safer because of what this Administration has accomplished during his time here.”

Mr. Ricchetti’s formal title will be Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President. Ms. Murray’s formal title will be Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President.