Biden said the economist helped him ‘execute a rescue plan that has led to one of the most equitable and resilient economic recoveries ever.’
WASHINGTON—White House senior adviser Gene Sperling is leaving the post to join Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.
In an Aug. 5 statement, President Joe Biden thanked Sperling, an economist who oversaw the implementation of Biden’s $1.9 trillion 2021 COVID-19 relief legislation, known as the American Rescue Plan, for his service.
Biden said that Sperling helped him “[to] execute a rescue plan that has led to one of the most equitable and resilient economic recoveries ever.”
“I also looked to Gene as a trusted advisor on the economy and gave him some of the toughest assignments,” Biden said.
These assignments included working with the three biggest automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—and the United Auto Workers union as “they fought for—and secured—record contracts,” he said.
Sperling, 65, will be a top economic adviser to the Harris campaign, which has been bringing in new staff, including senior adviser David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s successful 2008 presidential campaign.
Sperling’s relationship with Harris spans back to when she was California’s attorney general.
Sperling, who joined the current administration in March 2021, coordinated the American Rescue Plan, which gave 40 million families a temporary child tax credit, now expired, and handed emergency help to 8 million renters, according to the White House.
The GOP opposed the legislation, saying it would lead to greater inflation.
Sperling’s move was announced as Harris is set to embark on campaign trips starting on Aug. 6, when her running mate, who has yet to be announced, will appear with her at a rally in Philadelphia.
She will also be making stops in Arizona, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan, and Georgia.
Sperling’s departure comes on the heels of Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn’s announcement that she would be leaving the White House after serving two stints.
Biden dropped his reelection campaign in July.
Like Sperling, Dunn served in the Obama administration. She was acting communications director in the White House. Her husband, Bob Bauer, has been a personal attorney for Biden and played key roles in Biden’s 2020 campaign and during special counsel Robert Hur’s probe of the president for allegedly mishandling classified information.
Sperling headed the White House’s National Economic Council during the Clinton and Obama administrations. He worked in the Treasury Department during the Obama administration.
He served as an economic adviser to President Bill Clinton in his successful 1996 reelection campaign and as an economic adviser to New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, among others.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.