据政府官员称，白宫通讯联络主任凯特·贝丁菲尔德计划在7月下旬离职。
贝丁菲尔德是乔·拜登总统的长期高级助手:在他担任巴拉克·奥巴马的副总统时，她是他的通讯主任，并在他赢得2020年总统竞选期间成为他的副竞选经理。
她一直是拜登最信任的顾问之一，在他的第三次竞选中发挥了重要作用，无论是在镜头前还是幕后。
拜登于2021年1月上任时，她开始担任白宫通讯主任，并经常在电视和媒体上宣传或捍卫政府。
白宫助手说，曾在企业公关部门工作过的贝丁菲尔德将离开白宫，花更多时间陪伴她的丈夫和两个年幼的孩子，但预计她将继续从外部支持政府。
目前还不清楚谁将接替她的角色。
拜登的幕僚长罗恩·克莱恩(Ron Klain)在一份声明中说，“如果没有凯特·贝丁菲尔德(Kate Bedingfield)的才华和毅力，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)可能仍在白宫，救援计划和基础设施法可能仍是未实现的目标，凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊(Ketanji Brown Jackson)可能不会在最高法院任职。”
“她在总统取得的一切成就中发挥了巨大的作用——从他的第二个副总统任期，到竞选活动，以及自入主白宫以来，”克莱恩说。“她的战略敏锐度、对总统议程的高度投入以及为他所做的艰苦工作是无与伦比的。她将继续成为从外部推动拜登议程的关键人物。”
贝丁菲尔德离职之际，美国政府正在努力应对一系列挑战——从经济和通货膨胀到枪支暴力，罗伊诉韦德案(Roe v. Wade)翻案后的堕胎权，以及总统支持率持续下降的糟糕民调。
她的退出也是在11月中期选举之前，她跟随政府的其他高级成员一起离开，包括前白宫新闻秘书珍·帕萨基。
Biden's communications director Kate Bedingfield leaving the White House in coming weeks
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield plans to depart in late July, according to administration officials.
Bedingfield is a longtime top aide to President Joe Biden: She was his communications director when he served as vice president under Barack Obama and became his deputy campaign manager for communications during his winning bid for president in 2020.
She has been one of Biden's most trusted advisers and played a major role during his third campaign, both behind and in front of the camera.
She started as White House communications director when Biden took office in January 2021 and was a regular presence on TV and in the press advocating for or defending the administration.
White House aides say Bedingfield, who has also worked in corporate public relations, is leaving to spend more time with her husband and two young children, but she is expected to continue to support the administration from the outside.
It's not immediately clear who will succeed her in the role.
"Without Kate Bedingfield's talent and tenacity, Donald Trump might still be in the White House, the Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Law might still be unrealized goals, and Ketanji Brown Jackson might not be sitting on the Supreme Court," Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, said in a statement.
"She has played a huge role in everything the President has achieved – from his second term as Vice President, through the campaign, and since coming to the White House," Klain said. "Her strategic acumen, intense devotion to the President's agenda, and fierce work on his behalf are unmatched. She will continue to remain a critical player in moving the Biden agenda forward from the outside."
Bedingfield's departure comes as the administration is struggling with a slew of challenges -- from the economy and inflation to gun violence, abortion access in the wake of Roe v. Wade's overturning and poor polling for the president, whose approval ratings have continued to decline.
Her exit also comes in the lead up to the November midterm elections and she follows other senior members of the administration out the door, including former White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
