Jan. 8 (UPI) — White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu is stepping down from his post, the White House announced Monday.
Landrieu was a key figure in carrying out President Joe Biden’s infrastructure agenda, a marquee legislative victory. Biden said Landrieu traveled more than 119,000 miles to “nearly 150 cities” to meet with community leaders and plan the rollout of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“As my senior adviser, Mitch has helped oversee the most transformational investment in American infrastructure in generations,” Biden said in a statement. “In two years, our administration has announced over 40,000 infrastructure projects spread across 4,500 communities in every state, territory and Washington, D.C. We’ve expanded affordable high-speed internet access to over 22 million people and started improvements on over 135,000 miles of roads in America.”
Landrieu has served as Louisiana governor, lieutenant governor and mayor of New Orleans. Biden notes that Landrieu oversaw the restoration and reconstruction of New Orleans for more than a decade after it was struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Biden adds that he will “miss [Landrieu’s] counsel greatly.”
The statement from the president did not explain why Landrieu is stepping down, but Axios and CNN reported Landrieu will be joining Biden’s campaign for re-election as its national co-chair.