Top OMB aide to depart White House

A top aide in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is leaving her position in the coming days, administration officials confirmed Thursday.

Rachel Wallace, the chief of staff to OMB Director Shalanda Young and a veteran of President Biden’s 2020 campaign, is leaving her job to work as a consultant. Wallace has spent the last 19 months as Young’s chief of staff, working on spending deals and helping to implement key pieces of legislation.

“Rachel has been instrumental to OMB’s success over the last year and half,” Young said in a statement. “She has helped steer OMB through a critical phase—from helping navigate government funding deals, to releasing the Budget, to implementing the President’s historic legislative achievements. Her leadership has been critical to rebuilding and strengthening our team.”

Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president and a longtime Biden aide, praised Wallace for her work leading Women for Biden, which sought to engage women voters during the 2020 campaign, a major coalition that helped win the White House.

“When you look at her track record…it speaks to her loyalty to this President and his agenda, her commitment to public service, and her ability to get the job done,” Ricchetti said in a statement.

Wallace initially joined the White House Presidential Personnel Office after the 2020 campaign, working as the chief of staff during the initial round of hiring for the administration. She later moved over to the chief of staff role at OMB.

Wallace is an Obama administration alum, having worked at the State Department.

She will be replaced by Karen De Los Santos, who currently works at OMB as a program associate director and previously worked on Capitol Hill.