President Joe Biden is putting Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice in charge of the administration’s gun control efforts, the White House said Thursday.
“She is coordinating the President’s whole-of-government approach to reducing gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during the daily briefing.
Jean-Pierre cited Rice’s “decades of experience” in the federal government as making her qualified to handle the issue.
She did not mention Rice’s role in the Obama administration’s disastrous response to the attacks on the Benghazi consulate in Libya in 2012 that left four Americans dead or her role in defending Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s service record.
Instead, Jean-Pierre said there was “no one better” than Rice to handle the issue.
“She has decades of experience coordinating interagency processes in the federal government,” she said. “There is no one better at bringing department heads to the table to drive the process.”
Jean-Pierre spoke about Rice as reporters repeatedly questioned the White House about whether President Biden would appoint a “czar of gun things” to find more executive actions the president could take on gun control issues.
“We have a whole-of-government approach that I just mentioned, that Ambassador Susan Rice is leading, along with other departments,” she said.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) reacted to the news on social media.
“The architect of the Benghazi cover-up?” He asked. “I can’t think of anyone worse.”