White House domestic policy adviser and one of the most experienced officials in President Joe Biden’s administration, Susan Rice, is leaving after two years, the US president himself said on Monday in a statement cited by Reuters and Agerpres.

“After more than two years of her steady leadership of the Domestic Policy Council, it’s clear that there is no one more capable and determined to get things done for the American people than Susan Rice,” Biden said.

Rice previously served as national security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under then-President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president.

“As the only person to serve as national security and domestic policy adviser at the same time, Susan’s public service made history,” Biden added.

He noted that her choice to oversee domestic priorities “surprised a lot of people,” but he cited her efforts on health care, gun and police reform, student debt, child care and immigration, among other issues.

The departure occurred as Biden prepares to officially announce his candidacy for re-election on Tuesday.

The Democrat has faced jitters over immigration after vowing to roll back nearly all of the restrictive policies enacted under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and the issue is likely to come up again in the 2024 presidential campaign.

Did Joe Biden’s campaign push Rice from behind?

Rice played an influential role in shaping Biden’s immigration policy, favoring more restrictive measures on the US-Mexico border.

A source familiar with the matter previously said her efforts to tighten border enforcement have run afoul of more liberal staff on the president’s Domestic Policy Council. During a surge in migrant arrivals after Biden took office in 2021, she pushed for faster transfers of unaccompanied children to US sponsors.

The practice has come under scrutiny as Reuters and other media have documented cases of children working illegally in grueling jobs.

Biden announced Rice as his top domestic policy adviser before taking office in January 2021 after eyeing her as a possible running mate in the 2020 election.

At the time, a source familiar with the matter said that Biden sees foreign and domestic policy as intertwined, and that he values ​​her experience in the federal government as valuable to his future domestic agenda and economic recovery efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic. 19.