Biden private-sector liaison to leave White House

President Biden’s private-sector liaison, Zach Butterworth, is leaving his post at the White House.

Butterworth has served as the director of private sector engagement since the beginning of the administration. He was the point person at the White House for the business community who coordinated with CEOs and built coalitions around support for the American Rescue Plan, the CHIPs and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, according to a White House official.

Butterworth’s departure was first reported by Axios. It comes as the president is expected to announce his reelection bid in the coming weeks and follows the departure this week of White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

Butterworth's work also included co-leading the team that imported 100 million baby bottles of formula when there was a shortage last year. Butterworth also worked on the effort to fix the nation's lingering supply chain problems, including the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack that caused fuel shortages along the East Coast in May 2021.

“Moving forward, the Administration sees the private sector as a strong partner in implementing historic investments in roads, bridges, clean energy and semiconductors. The team at the Office of Public Engagement will continue to building coalitions to support of the plans the President laid out in SOTU,” a White House official said in a statement.

It has not yet been announced where Butterworth is going after the White House. He previously worked as director of intergovernmental affairs for the city of New Orleans and was legislative director to former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).