White House press secretary Jen Psaki is reportedly in talks to leave the Biden administration for MSNBC.
And the move could come as soon as next month.
Axios first reported Psaki’s plans Friday after speaking with two to three insiders. CNN Business confirmed the news after speaking with “two people familiar with the matter.”
MSNBC declined CNN’s request for comment. However, the NBC subsidiary has been consulting its legal team in order to comply with the federal government’s 30-year-old ethics rules, according to Axios‘s sourcing. Reportedly, Psaki has been consulting the White House’s counsel for that same reason.
Psaki has worked for the Biden administration since its start in January 2021. Previously, she served as a State Department spokesperson and White House communications director under former President Barack Obama. She remains best known for her work as a public relations professional for Democrat administrations, but she has also made a career in cable news.
She worked as a political commentator for CNN during former President Donald Trump’s administration.
However, Psaki is going to join MSNBC, according to these reports — not her old employer CNN.
She is set to host a show on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock, Axios said. She will also join the televised programs as a contributor, but, according to Axios, she will not replace Rachel Maddow, formerly the network’s highest-rated host.
Administrative officials often look for jobs as television hosts after leaving politics. They carry name recognition with the audience.
For example, former communications director Nicole Wallace began co-hosting The View after leaving the Bush administration. Former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany became a Fox News commentator after Trump’s exit from the White House. Just last month Mick Mulvaney, the Trump administration’s envoy to Northern Ireland, announced plans to join CBS News.
On rarer occasions, administration officials start hosting news broadcasts while their bosses remain in office. Symone Sanders, the former spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, is scheduled to start hosting the talk show Symone on MSNBC next month.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has joined Sanders in this regard. She will host a broadcast during the reign of her former boss, cheering him on from MSNBC’s studios.
The White House has yet to announce a replacement for Psaki, but the administration has had enough time to prepare.
Granted, Psaki has only told individual officials about her plans to join MSNBC, and she has yet to announce her plans formally, according to Axios‘s sourcing.
However, she has publicly spoken about the need to freshen the ranks of the Biden administration.
“I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job, in a year from now or about a year from now,” she told CNN’s David Axelrod on a podcast in May.
It’s been 11 months.
The Horn editorial team