White House Press Secretary announces the departure of two additional staff members
White House Press Secretary Karina Jean-Pierre announced the departure of two staff members: press assistant Megha Bhattacharya and her assistant and Chief of Staff Robbie Dornbush.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced the resignations of two "valued members" of the communications office on Wednesday.
After discussing the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio and Biden's trip to Ukraine, the Press Secretary shifted gears to announce the "bittersweet" news that Jean-Pierre's Press Assistant Megha Bhattacharya and her Chief of Staff Robbie Dornbush were leaving the White House's press team.
"We have another bittersweet day for us, for the White House press team, as this is the last press briefing for Megha and Robbie — to my right here — who are valued members of our team," Jean-Pierre started.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room. Jean-Pierre announced the departure of two staff members amid an Exodus from Biden's White House. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing at the White House on February 23, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Bhattacharya was a White House staff member since February 2022 – making her tenure just over one year, while Dornbush was with the press team for just nine months.
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"Megha has yelled ‘Thank you, press’ in every room of the White House and on three different continents." Jean-Pierre reminisced. "She’s done it all with grace, a great sense of humor, and grade A outfits."
The Press Secretary shared that Bhattacharya is headed to the State Department, but she did not share her former Chief of Staff's next steps.
"I knew Robbie before this administration began." Jean-Pierre begin. "But we will truly miss you, Robbie. Thank you for everything that you’ve done."
The White House did not respond to Fox News' Digitals request for comment.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing at the White House on February 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
From the start, the Biden administration has had periods of high staff turnover.
Notable departures include former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who resigned in May for a gig at MSNBC. Psaki had served Biden since he took office, as well as Cedric Richmond, who also resigned in May after serving as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement since Biden took office.
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Jean-Pierre's press office faced additional departure as well, with assistant press secretary Vedent Patel announcing his resignation and transfer to the principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department in June. Just a day later, Jean-Pierre announced another press office departure, chief of staff Amanda Finney left to be the deputy director of public affairs for the Energy Department.
In addition, other key players in the Biden White House who have resigned in 2022 include, Pili Tobar, deputy director of communications and special assistant to Biden who resigned in May; TJ Ducklo, who served as deputy press secretary, as well as special assistant to the president, who resigned in February 2021; and Jessica Hurtz, who served as White House staff secretary and deputy assistant to Biden resigned in October 2022.
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Following Jean-Pierre's tribute to her former employees, she ended with a joke before transitioning to a question and answer segment.
"Okay. With that, the briefing is over." Jean-Pierre joked. "I’m just kidding."
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