Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta who served as the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, has announced her resignation from the Biden administration after joining in June 2022.
Her tenure was scheduled to end after the midterms in November 2022, but she decided to step down early.
She took to Twitter to share her departure news and thanked her family and President Biden.
Bottoms was originally hired as a political commentator at CNN after not running for reelection for Atlanta mayor in 2021.
She then joined the White House for what she thought would be a short-term assignment that ended up lasting longer.
Bottoms' departure has been met with praise from President Biden, who expressed his gratitude for her service to the nation with honor and integrity.
The president lauded Bottoms for keeping equity at the heart of their agenda and for serving as a vital connection between the administration and everyday Americans.
He also noted that he had relied on her exceptional instincts and guidance as a close advisor.
With Bottoms' departure, former Columbia, South Carolina, mayor Stephen Benjamin will take over as the new director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Benjamin served as president of the African American Mayors Association from 2015 to 2016, as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors from 2018 to 2019, and as mayor of Columbia from 2010 to 2021.
Bottoms has described her time at the White House as an “extraordinary season” and expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to represent all of who they are and all their ancestors believed they could be. She also thanked her family for their sacrifice during her tenure.