Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max When it was reported on Friday that White House Communications Director KATE BEDINGFIELD was reversing course and staying on the job, the original line was that she’d agreed to do so after being asked by chief of staff RON KLAIN and the president himself. That was not the full story. While Klain had asked her to stay an extra week after JOE BIDEN tested positive for Covid-19, Bedingfield was the one who asked to keep her job weeks after she announced she was leaving, according to five people familiar with the matter. The original framing of the news frustrated people inside and outside the White House. “You’re here to serve,” said one person close to the White House. “It’s not the story of how the president needed you.” Bedingfield clarified the original line by alluding to her own indecisiveness in a tweet : “A massive thank you to everyone (every. one.) who endured listening to me wax on about how I regretted my decision to leave.” And in a statement to West Wing Playbook, Bedingfield said: “As I said in the email announcing my decision, it was absolutely my call to stay, which I chose to do because of my loyalty to this team and to this President. They were gracious enough to let me reverse a decision I regretted. There is so much more to do and I am excited to work on it with the incredible people in this Administration.” But behind closed doors, the reaction was mostly muted. Some people weren’t surprised that Bedingfield reversed course. While one source with direct knowledge said there was some interest from television news networks in bringing her on as a contributor, she did not have pre-baked offers like former press secretary JEN PSAKI, who departed the White House with an MSNBC job in hand. For others, however, her reversal was surprising. Plans were already in full swing for how to operate without her. KATE BERNER, the White House deputy communications director, had been told she was going to be filling in until Bedingfield's replacement was chosen, according to three people familiar with the matter., according to three people familiar with the matter. She would serve until a permanent replacement was named. The White House had already zeroed in on LIZ ALLEN, currently leading comms at the State Department, as a replacement — though talks had not been finalized. There were at least two going away parties planned, too: one at the White House and another off-campus with senior adviser ANITA DUNN and other confidantes. And NBC News reported that a “major overhaul” of the press shop was coming in the wake of her departure. But Bedingfield’s change of heart leaves much of that up in the air. People in the White House are divided on whether that’s good or bad. When Bedingfield first announced she was leaving, there was a wave of sadness and acceptance within the West Wing, according to two staffers and Democrats close to the White House. No one begrudged Bedingfield for leaving and, presumably, moving to the private sector. Her goodbyes were warm, but many of those in the building felt it might be time to shake up a communications team that had taken repeated hits in recent months. Even so, there is relief in some quarters that she is staying. Bedingfield, who began working for Biden in 2015 , has been a stalwart of his through many highs and lows. Some White House officials believed that she should have been named press secretary over KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, though a White House official previously told us she did not make a play for the job despite expressing interest in it at the beginning of the administration . Bedingfield’s reversal was not welcomed in all parts of the administration or among all Democrats close to the White House. Among other things, there was a sense among some people that the about-face was driven in part by convenience. Senate Democrats had resuscitated a reconciliation deal and gas prices were coming down, enhancing the possibilities that the comms shop would enter a rare stretch where it could glide on some good news. Those who committed to stay through the end of the year — as Klain had asked them to do — did so without expectation that the political climate would brighten. Bedingfield was essentially getting a do-over. "The people who signed on the dotted line two weeks ago [were agreeing] to eat shit sandwiches," as one person close to the White House put it. A White House aide who had had a direct conversation with her before the reconciliation bill revival said Bedingfield had conveyed her misgivings about leaving well before then. In addition, there was irritation with Bedingfield inside and outside the White House at what they felt was a gratuitous shot at liberal activists on her way out the door. “Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party,” she told The Washington Post as those activists demanded Biden take bolder action following the ending of Roe . Even if accurate, her critics said it wasn’t strategic. A source familiar with the matter said she was speaking for the White House, not going rogue and that the statement was broadly authorized internally. More broadly, however, is the sense that the White House will now miss an opportunity for a needed reset. Even with the political landscape improving, Biden has an approval rating in the high 30s. Among some people in the administration, there’s a belief the press shop’s formula is not working. As one former Biden aide and close ally bluntly assessed the comms team: “They are gutterly defensive and incapable of metabolizing the reality that they are doing a terrible job.” MESSAGE US — Are you KATE BEDINGFIELD? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com .
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