A top labor adviser for President Joe Biden departed the White House earlier this week.
Celeste Drake left her position Sunday to serve as the deputy director-general of the International Labor Organization on August 14, according to The Hill. She led labor policy at the National Economic Council (NEC) and had been promoted to senior labor adviser in the Office of Political Strategy.
Celeste Drake, a top labor adviser to President Biden, has stepped down from her post, according to the White House. https://t.co/EHTWWsUi1e
— The Hill (@thehill) August 8, 2023
She left her position as the White House have struggled to get its Labor Secretary, Julie Su, confirmed in the Senate following former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s resignation in February. The president nominated Su in February, but has been unsuccessful in getting nominated over her testy exchange with Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski during her April confirmation hearing.
Su also reportedly failed to enforce a California law aimed at combating pedophilia while she serving as the state’s labor commissioner. (RELATED: White House Announces Departure Of CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky)
Drake was chosen by Biden to serve as the first-ever director of Made in America at the Office of Management and Budget in April 2021, The Hill reported. She was tasked with meeting the president’s manufacturing goals.
White House officials praised Drake for her “sharp policy focus” in statements upon her departure.
“Celeste Drake is the embodiment of President Biden’s commitment to putting working Americans at the center of his economic policy. Her policy expertise, relationships of trust, and wise counsel have made Celeste an essential part of the White House team,” NEC director Lael Brainard said.
Drake is among the several White House officials who suddenly departed since the beginning of the administration.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield left the White House in February and joined CNN as a political commentator in late July. Former White House chief of staff Ron Slain stepped down in January and former principal communications director Kate Berner left in May.
A group of staffers have recently left White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The press secretary announced the departure of press assistant Megha Bhattacharya and her assistant and Chief of Staff Robbie Dornbush in February and the stepping down of assistant press secretary Abdullah Hasan in July.