White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview she plans to serve in her administration role for about a year before moving on to spend more time with her family.
Psaki made the comments during an hourlong interview with David Axelrod, her former colleague when they served under President Barack Obama, saying after a year of service, “I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job. It’s not uncommon for the press secretary role to experience a high level of turnover: Former President Donald Trump had four, Obama had three and former President George W. Bush had four as well.
“When I talked to the inner circle of the Biden orbit about this, we talked about coming in and doing this job for a year, which was quite appealing to me for many reasons,” Psaki said during the interview. “One, what a moment in history to be a part of. It’s always true in the White House, but I think following Trump especially, if you can take the temperature down a little bit, that’s a cool thing to be a part of.”
She added: “And I have little kids, and I don’t want to miss time with them. My daughter’s going into kindergarten .… I have a lot of years with her. I don’t want to miss moments, I don’t want to miss things, and I want to be mindful of that.”
The press secretary also elaborated on her work with Biden during the first 100 days of his tenure, saying she often urged the president not to take off-the-cuff questions while stressing he was “always pushing and testing whether we’re speaking about things in an accessible way.”
“We’re never going to satisfy the White House press corps and their desires for access,” she added. “And I think there have been mistakes made in the past of trying to do that.”
Psaki — who has earned praise in recent months from the White House press corps — told Axelrod her experience in government gave her some foresight before she accepted the job.
“It’s a decision, having worked here before, that you kind of make as a family,” she said. “You’re agreeing to committing to … really be a part of a wild crazy roller coaster for a period of time.”