White House press secretary Jen Psaki is leaving her job to work for liberal cable news outlet MSNBC, according to reports Friday.
Ms. Psaki, who has been press secretary since President Biden took office in January 2021, will depart the White House in May, according to Axios.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It had been widely reported that Ms. Psaki was looking for a job at a network news outlet. She had meetings with both MSNBC and CNN, with ABC and CBS also reportedly in the mix.
Ms. Psaki has been out of the briefing room all week after testing positive for COVID-19.
White House communications chief Kate Bedingfield has held most of the briefings this week and has earned high marks from reporters. Her appearances have largely been viewed as an audition to replace Ms. Psaki.
When asked last month, Ms. Psaki dismissed the talk that she was job hunting.
“I have more than enough on my plate here. So you can’t get rid of me quite yet,” she told reporters.
Republicans laughed off Ms. Psaki’s move to the left-leaning news network.
“At least she’ll still be working for the White House,” joked Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican.
Ms. Psaki is the second White House communications official to bolt for MSNBC. Symone Sanders, the former spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, joined the network in January as the host of a weekend program.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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