White House communications chief of staff Emma Riley announces she is leaving for Labor Department

The White House’s communications chief of staff has announced she is leaving her post, marking the administration’s second high-profile resignation this week as President Biden’s approval ratings continue to plummet. 

White House communications chief of staff Emma Riley said Friday she is resigning from her Oval Office gig less than a year into the administration and is heading to a new post at the Labor Department. 

‘It was an honor and privilege to serve @POTUS and the American people at the @White House … I’m excited to be moving down Pennsylvania Ave and traveling around the country with @SecMartyWalsh and @USDOL,’ Riley tweeted.

Riley’s announcement comes one day after Kamala Harris‘ communications director Ashley Etienne announced she is leaving the vice president’s office, after reports that staff are in-fighting and her boss is being sidelined. 

Etienne, a former staffer to Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, joined Harris’ team shortly after the election and said at the time she would only stay a year. 

Etienne is set to leave in December to pursue other opportunities, the White House said.

‘Ashley is valued member of the Vice President’s team, who has worked tirelessly to advance the goals of this administration. She is leaving the office in December to pursue other opportunities,’ a White House official told DailyMail.com.

Etienne’s departure comes as her soon-to-be former boss has taken a beating in recent weeks with a series of unflattering stories about her role as vice president, in-fighting among her staff, and complaints from her allies the Biden administration is not properly utilizing her.

Harris has denied those claims, saying she doesn’t feel like she’s being underutilized by President Joe Biden and his team.

‘No. I don’t,’ she said when asked this week if she feels she’s being underutilized.

‘I am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished but I am also absolutely, absolutely clear-eyed that there is a lot more to do and we’re going to get it done,’ Harris told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired on Good Morning America Thursday morning.

Harris’ boss has not fared much better, however, as Biden’s approval rating dropped to 36 percent in a new poll released this week that said most voters want to see Republicans take control of Congress.

The new numbers – from a Quinnipiac University poll – indicate a level of frustration among voters with the party in power as the country prepares for next year’s midterm elections.

Only 36 percent of those polled approve of the job President Biden is doing while 53 percent disapprove. It’s the lowest job approval rating he’s received in a Quinnipiac University poll. 

In the survey, 46 percent said they want to see Republicans win control of the House – compared to 38 percent who want Democrats – and 46 percent want the GOP in the charge of the Senate, compared to 40 percent who favor Democrats.

Independent voters, who typically decide matters in elections, also want to see Republicans in charge of Congress: 41 percent to 31 percent for the House, respectively, and 44 percent to 34 percent for the Senate.

Additionally, a slight majority of Americans – 52 percent – said the Democratic Party has moved to the left.

Historically, the president’s political party tends to do badly in the first midterms after they take office. Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump saw their respective parties lose control of the House of Representatives in their first midterms – 2010 and 2018, respectively.