US President-elect Biden selects Ron Klain as chief of staff

President-elect Joe Biden has named Ron Klain, a veteran of Capitol Hill, as his White House chief of staff, the transition said in a news release.

Klain, 59, is a longtime Democratic operative who has strong ties to Biden, largely as his chief of staff during Biden's first years as vice president. He also coordinated the Obama administration's response to the Ebola outbreak, giving him both familiarity with Biden and important credentials as the Covid-19 response will consume Biden's opening months.

"Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014," Biden said in a statement. "His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again."

Biden's choice of Klain puts a veteran Washington insider with experience confronting a global health crisis at the helm of the president-elect's West Wing. But it's just the first of many senior hires to come, with transition officials saying a larger batch of as many as 10 to 12 will come next week.

Klain also worked with Biden from 1989 to 1992 as chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee during Biden's tenure as chair. Before that, he was a policy adviser on the Judiciary Committee staff from 1986 to 1987. Klain also worked as an adviser on Biden's unsuccessful 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns.

The appointment was first reported by The Washington Post.

Since he was projected as the winner of the presidential race, Biden has been focused on building a team that will enter the White House with him on Inauguration Day as he looks to fill several thousand jobs in his administration, people familiar with the process said.

About 200 positions would be filled immediately in the White House and at some key government agencies. Once that's complete, sources said, Biden will turn to building out his Cabinet.