Jeff Zients
Jeffrey Dunston Zients (/ˈzaɪənts/; born November 12, 1966) is an American business executive and government official, serving as the 31st White House chief of staff in the administration of U.S. president Joe Biden. Earlier in the Biden administration, he served as counselor to the president and White House coronavirus response coordinator from January 2021 to April 2022.[1][2][3]
Jeff Zients
Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Natalie Quillian
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Jack Lew
Barack Obama
Position established
Barack Obama
Beth Cobert
Mary Menell
During the presidency of Barack Obama, Zients served as director of the National Economic Council from February 2014 to January 2017, served as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2010 and from 2012 to 2013, and led the emergency effort to fix healthcare.gov after the troubled launch of that critical component of the Affordable Care Act.
Before entering government, Zients was an executive at firms including the Advisory Board Company and CEB. Zients joined the Biden administration after taking leave from his position as chief executive officer of Cranemere, an investment firm. He was a member of Facebook's board of directors from 2018 to 2020.[4]
Early life and education[edit]
Zients was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Kensington, Maryland.[5] His family is Jewish.[6][7][8] Zients graduated from the St. Albans School in 1984 and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Duke University,[9] graduating summa cum laude in 1988.[10]
Obama administration[edit]
Office of Management and Budget[edit]
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Zients to the new position of United States chief performance officer and deputy director for management (DDM) of the Office of Management and Budget.[19][20] It was Zients's first governmental experience.[21]
According to Obama, his assignment was to help "streamline processes, cut costs, and find best practices throughout" the U.S. government.[20] His nomination was approved by the Senate in June 2009.[22][23] As DDM, Zients established and chaired the President's Management Council.[24]
Zients was the acting director of OMB from July 2010 to November 2010, and again from January 2012 to April 2013.[25][26][27]
Healthcare.gov[edit]
Following the error-plagued launch of healthcare.gov on October 1, 2013, Obama and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough asked Zients to take charge of fixing the website.[28][29][30][31] While leading the "tech surge" to do that, Zients also had an ownership position in PSA Healthcare. The position of the White House was that Zients's stake in PSA Healthcare, a pediatric home health business, was not a conflict of interest.[28]
Return to the private sector[edit]
Facebook[edit]
Zients joined Facebook's board of directors in 2018, following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.[36] While on Facebook's board, Zients chaired the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee.[37][38] According to Facebook, he declined to seek re-election in 2020 "to devote more time to his business and other professional interests".[39] Zients was paid $100,000 in cash and roughly $300,000 in stock in exchange for his work on Facebook's audit committee.[38] As of December 2020, Zients had reportedly sold all of his holdings of Facebook stock.[38]
Cranemere[edit]
Zients was the CEO of the Wall Street investment firm Cranemere, an investment firm owned by Vincent Mai, for which he earned a combined salary and bonus of $1.6 million.[33][40] As of December 2020, Zients was on leave from his position as chief executive officer of Cranemere.[33]
In addition, Zients was an investor in the D.C.-based bagel deli startup Call Your Mother.[41]
