White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain speaks during a TV interview on the driveway of the White House on March 01, 2022 in Washington, DC. U.S.
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Why she’ll be the choice: Few people in the president’s inner circle can match her experience or have earned his trust in the same way as Dunn has. A former White House communications director under President Barack Obama, Dunn’s specific areas of focus — messaging, politics and campaign management — line up with what the president wants as he begins the second half of his term and a likely reelection bid. Biden’s new reliance on her husband Bob Bauer as his outside counsel amid a classified documents probe only raises Dunn’s centrality to the president. And the opportunity to make history as the first female White House chief of staff could make the opportunity, should it be offered, hard to pass up.

Why she won’t be the choice: Dunn doesn’t need the chief of staff title to have an outsized impact on Biden’s next two years. In fact, overseeing all West Wing personnel and day-to-day operations at the White House would limit her ability to mold Biden’s campaign operation and serve as a key go-between linking the administration and the reelect. If she is viewed as a co-equal of whoever winds up in Klain’s job, she’s better positioned to influence and integrate both operations in her current role.

STEVE RICCHETTI

Counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti walks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 18, 2021.