MIKE MCCURRY

Jen Psaki is leaving as White House press secretary on Friday after having answered reporters’ questions nearly every weekday of the almost 500 days that President Joe Biden has been in office.

Party members voted unanimously to ban participation in the general election debates during their annual spring meeting in Memphis.

A U.N. resolution upholding the Olympic Truce has been passed 15 times.

Major League Baseball has asked a federal mediator to intervene in stalled labor negotiations that likely will put off the start of spring training.

NEW YORK A few times each week, reporters sit in the White House briefing room to fire questions at the Trump administration's press secretary as she stands at a podium to respond. McEnany, President Donald Trump's fourth press secretary, restored the briefing after it was dormant for more than a year. With a boss who routinely attacks the press, McEnany has no problems doing the same. This needs to be an aberration.Politics in the White House? Symbolically, a White House press secretary's office is midway between the Oval Office and press room, illustrating how the person is responsible to both occupants.

He summoned her, after all to be his fourth White House press secretary and to his side on last week at the steps of St. Johns Church after the military forcefully cleared away peaceful protesters. But Trump did not speak of spirituality or the health and racial crises wracking the country he leads. The separation between White House press secretary and campaign spokesperson is traditionally rooted in the idea that taxpayers should not pay the salary of a political advocate. She and communications director Alyssa Farah were brought in by new chief of staff Mark Meadows, who wanted to bolster the press shop after it flagged under press secretary Stephanie Grisham. That means not just pushing the White House perspective, but also at times criticizing news coverage and individual reporters.