President-elect Joseph R. Biden on Wednesday announced that Jessica Hertz, a former associate general counsel for Facebook’s regulatory team, will be the staff secretary in the incoming administration.
Ms. Hertz was one of 27 staff appointments Mr. Biden announced on Wednesday.
“The appointees named today will draw from their expertise and life experiences to help us build the country back better,” Mr. Biden said. “Moving forward together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.”
Ms. Hertz is the general counsel for Mr. Biden’s transition team. She also worked as a principal deputy counsel in Mr. Biden’s office when he was vice president.
Jeff Zients, who Mr. Biden named as his COVID-19 czar, is a former Facebook board member.
The left has been angry with Facebook in recent years, saying the company’s policies on advertisements and political speech have given free rein to President Trump and the GOP to spread misinformation.
During the campaign, a coalition of liberal advocacy groups petitioned Mr. Biden’s transition team not to name any current Facebook executives or lobbyists to any positions in the administration.
Conservatives have long griped that companies like Facebook and Twitter are biased against them and work underhandedly to suppress right-leaning viewpoints.
Rep. Ken Buck, Colorado Republican, responded to the announcement by saying that “Big Tech in the White House” is a bad idea.
“We must take action against Google and Facebook for their anticompetitive practices. Now is not the time to cozy up to Big Tech,” the congressman said on Twitter.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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