The White House on Thursday announced the departure of Brian Deese, who served as director of the National Economic Council and helped execute President Joe Biden's economic policies in his first two years in office.
In a statement announcing Deese's departure, the president praised Deese for his efforts to "rebuild the economy" amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"For the past two years, I have relied on Brian Deese to help me do just that. Brian has a unique ability to translate complex policy challenges into concrete actions that improve the lives of American people," the president said. "He has helped steer my economic vision into reality and managed the transition of our historic economic recovery to steady and stable growth."
Biden noted that Deese played a key role in the passage of sweeping economic legislation that he signed into law, including pandemic relief, infrastructure, computer chip manufacturing and tax, climate and health care bills.
Deese's replacement has not been announced. His departure comes as the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy clash over the debt ceiling.
Deese's appointment did not require Senate confirmation. In a Dec. 2020 statement announcing Deese's appointment, Biden said he is "a trusted voice I can count on to help us end the ongoing economic crisis, build a better economy that deals everybody in, and take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that creates good-paying American jobs."
Prior to leading the NEC in the Biden White House, Deese was the head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager.
Deese previously served under the Obama administration as former deputy director of the NEC, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and senior advisor to President Barack Obama. He joined the Obama White House after working on Obama's 2008 campaign.
Deese also served as a senior adviser to Obama on issues related to climate change and energy. He played a key role in the 2015 Paris Agreement, a landmark climate change deal that included 190 countries pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.
Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris agreement in 2017 during his time in office. Within hours of having been sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in 2021, Biden reversed Trump's decision by signing an executive order for the U.S. to rejoin the climate accord.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
