Schiff aide moves to White House as Biden rounds out press team

The White House is rounding out its press operation, adding a veteran Capitol Hill aide as President Joe Biden prepares to launch his next major agenda push.

Emilie Simons will join the White House as an assistant press secretary after working for members in both chambers of Congress, most recently as the communications director for House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat.

“Emilie Simons brings a breadth of experience as a high-level communications professional both on Capitol Hill and on political campaigns,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN in a statement. “She has a stellar reputation for depth of knowledge on policy issues, and we are looking forward to her joining the team as Assistant Press Secretary.”

Simons is the latest addition to the White House team. Andrew Bates, a senior Biden campaign hand, is joining as a deputy press secretary after working on the confirmation team for Biden’s Cabinet selections.

Simons will join the White House just days before Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks in Pittsburgh marking the unofficial kickoff of his next major legislative push — a sweeping jobs, infrastructure and domestic economy package that will total between $3 trillion and $4 trillion, according to people familiar with the plan.

The President already secured a cornerstone legislative victory in signing into law a $1.9 Covid relief plan. The infrastructure package is considered by Biden and his economic team to be a crucial piece of the “recovery” stage of their policy road map.

A California native, Simons started on Capitol Hill for her then-home state US senator, Barbara Boxer, before moving to Schiff’s office upon Boxer’s retirement.

It was there where she became a permanent presence by the side of one of the most prominent and visible House Democrats of the last several years. Schiff’s role on the Intelligence Committee thrust him into the spotlight as the lead investigator, and then lead manager, in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.

Once the Senate impeachment trial got underway, Simons was selected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s team to serve as one of the senior communications staffers in the House and Senate trial war room and she ran the press operations for the team of impeachment managers.

“When Emilie first joined our office, nobody could have expected what would happen over the next four years, and through it all — the investigations, the first impeachment and a pandemic — Emilie kept a cool head during the most turbulent moments, and was also an extremely gifted messenger and spokeswoman,” Schiff said.

Simons took leave from Schiff’s office to join Biden’s campaign, serving as the chief of staff to former senior Pelosi aide Ashley Etienne on the strategic planning team. Etienne is now the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I’m honored to join the Biden administration at this critical time in our nation’s history, and I look forward to working with this strong and experienced team that has more women leaders than ever before,” Simons told CNN.