The White House announced on Thursday that its top attorney will leave next month after almost three years of serving President Joe Biden as House Republicans continue to investigate the sitting president and his family.
Stuart Delery joined the president’s transition team in November 2020 before serving as deputy counsel. Delery was promoted to the top position in 2022 after President Biden’s first counsel, Dana Remus, left the White House.
In announcing his departure, the president called Delery a “trusted adviser and a constant source of innovative legal thinking since Day One of my Administration.”
President Biden added, “From his work during those early days on Covid-19 and efforts to get life-saving vaccines to the American public to the implementation of major legislative accomplishments such as the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, he has been an integral part of my team and will be missed throughout the Administration.”
The president also thanked Delery and his family for his service.
The White House didn’t announce who would be replacing him as counsel.
Delery’s departure comes as Republicans in the House have launched multiple investigations into President Biden’s son Hunter and the origins of Covid-19. Other GOP lawmakers are pushing to impeach the president.
Additionally, Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found in Biden’s possession at two locations, including his former Washington, D.C. office and the garage at his Delaware home.
President Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, is handling the matter of the classified documents, while the White House has around two dozen aides working on the other investigations.
WH chief of staff asked senior officials to decide by the end of summer if they would remain in their positions through 2024
The departure also comes as Jeff Zients, White House chief of staff, asked senior officials and Cabinet members to decide by the end of summer if they would remain in their position through 2024 and the presidential election cycle.
According to what an unidentified official at the White House told The Associated Press, Delery’s departure had been in the works for a while.
Delery was the top adviser who helped President Biden craft his student loan handout executive order last year, ultimately struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The White House argued unsuccessfully that the Covid-19 pandemic qualified as an emergency that gave the education secretary the legal authority to “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision,” including student loans.
In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that the administration overstepped its constitutional authority with the proposal.
Delery, while serving as deputy counsel before being named chief White House lawyer, played a critical role in advising the president’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
He also played a crucial role in helping the administration put new rules at the U.S.-Mexico border, which was designed to stop migrants from crossing illegally.
