Another high-level figure in the Biden administration is leaving.
U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray will officially retire on July 30th — he served three years in the role.
U.S. Secret Service Director James Murray will retire after serving in the high-ranking post for three years, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement on Thursday.
“Jim embodies the meaning of service over self, and protected the families of U.S. Presidents like they were part of his own,” the statement said. “We are incredibly grateful for his service to our country and our family.”
Murray will begin a new position as chief security officer at Snap Inc., the company that owns Snapchat, at the beginning of August, a company spokesperson said. The Washington Post earlier reported the move. Murray will report directly to Snap CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel.
In January 2021, Snapchat permanently terminated President Trump’s account.
They said at the time:
“Last week we announced an indefinite suspension of President Trump’s Snapchat account, and have been assessing what long term action is in the best interest of our Snapchat community. In the interest of public safety, and based on his attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence, which are clear violations of our guidelines, we have made the decision to permanently terminate his account…”
The Biden administration has had a shocking number of departures – people are leaving the administration at a faster rate than prior administrations.
The Washington Examiner reported:
After one year in office, President Joe Biden’s White House staff shrank at a significantly faster rate than the staffs of his immediate predecessors, an analysis of a staffing report published by the Biden administration confirms.
The White House has been required to publish its full payroll dating back to 1995. In total, 2022’s report lists 474 people employed by the Executive Office of the President as of July 1, 16 of whom are listed as unpaid detailees, fellows, policy staffers, and one staff secretary. The report shows a more than 15% decrease in the total number of White House staff. The 2021 report listed 560 employees, with 41 not taking salaries.
For comparison, the White House saw 4% and 1% staff reduction after Presidents Barack Obama’s and Donald Trump’s first years in office, according to Open the Books. Obama employed 485 and 466 staffers in 2009 and 2010, while Trump employed 377 and 372 in 2017 and 2018.
Is the Biden Administration falling apart?