Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.

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When ANTHONY FAUCI announced his retirement last summer, a raft of stories followed – no surprise given his prominent public role during the Covid-19 pandemic and 38 years of government service. Same thing with JEN PSAKI, the Biden administration’s first press secretary, when she announced plans last year to leave the White House for an MSNBC gig.

But there have also been a run of one-off stories about younger, lesser known officials as they’ve left the administration — stories sometimes pitched by the White House press shop that happen to be about individuals who worked in the White House press shop.

CNN, which has run several of these stories in recent months, broke the news last month about the departure of KEVIN MUÑOZ, the 27-year-old assistant White House press secretary tasked with addressing Covid-19. A few days earlier, the network reported that REMI YAMAMOTO, a senior communications adviser to former chief of staff RON KLAIN who handled press for a number of senior officials, was also leaving. A couple weeks later, CNN scooped that SALONI SHARMA, a spokesperson for the national security council, would be filling Yamamoto’s old role as the top press liaison for chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS and other senior aides.

CNN isn’t the only outlet running this genre of items. POLITICO, Axios and others have done their share. Nor are these departure stories unique to the Biden White House.

But they have caused some internal tension, raising the hackles of several administration officials, including some in high-ranking positions, who don’t understand why others haven’t received the same coverage and gotten the pre-packed, on-the-record praise.

Take Muñoz, who Fauci hailed as a “very, very nice guy” and Biden senior adviser JULIE RODRIGUEZ credited for being “someone that understands the need to reach all communities.” Or Sharma, who national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN called “a hidden national treasure.” Yamamoto, an original member of Biden’s campaign, merited statements from senior adviser MIKE DONILON and the president, who described her as “unflinchingly loyal and extraordinarily capable.”

Although these stories have induced many an eye roll from those outside of the press shop, few felt heartbroken for not getting their own flattering CNN.com send-off piece, one former administration official said. When staffers across the administration depart, few go out of their way to try and land themselves a departure story (although many have been known to send their news to one of our colleagues). “No one is running these down,” the former official said. “By and large people leave and they’re like, ‘Ok, I’m gone.’”

But many have noticed, the former official said, that while early-career press staffers will get a write up, senior-level officials who wield far more power within the administration do not.

For instance, there was no coverage — aside from a mention in this newsletter — following the departure of CHIRAAG BAINS, who just left his job as deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council and deputy assistant to the president for racial justice and equity. Neither PATRICK RODENBUSH, a former special assistant to the president and senior adviser to the Domestic Policy Council, and ALEX YUDELSON, the council’s executive secretary, received media coverage upon departing.

But the promotion of LEE SLATER and ASHLEY JONES within the Office of Legislative Affairs was covered by Bloomberg last month. And the resignation of one of the administration’s most prominent Black officials, former deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs GABE AMO, drew stories from the Boston Globe last week and Washington Post on Monday — both focused on his likely run for Congress. The White House didn’t pitch the piece, but when contacted by the Post’s MICHAEL SCHERER, provided a quote.

“Very often these stories result from reporters learning through their own sourcing about personnel changes, then their news organization decides if and how they want to cover them, and approach the White House,” one White House official said. “At that point we decide how to engage about something that is going to be covered regardless.”

While the broader trends may reflect a clear distinction between a seasoned D.C. jadedness and a youthful infatuation with the politics and the celebrity of it, a current administration official dismissed any larger grumbling about these stories. The discrepancy, the person said, makes sense because it’s the press office that has relationships with the press and the stories are largely inconsequential.

“Folks can say what they want, but they put in a lot of work — more than a lot of other people who want press and don’t get it,” said another administration official, who works in communications and defended the press shop. “The folks who are griping and complaining, the comms team is first in and last to leave.”

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With help from the White House Historical Association

Who was the first U.S. president to visit Japan while in office?

(Answer at bottom.)

EARLIEST LID… EVER? The White House called a lid Monday at 9 a.m.

VETO VOW: The Biden administration vowed Monday to veto two Republican-backed bills, should they reach the president’s desk — one would reverse D.C. policing reforms and the other would block transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams, our ADAM CANCRYN reports.

IT’S (STILL) ANYONE’S GUESS: Biden’s reelection announcement could happen at the end of the month. “Preparations have accelerated … even as those involved discuss the pros and cons of delaying a formal announcement into early summer, seeing little advantage in interrupting Republican infighting,” NYT’s SHANE GOLDMACHER and REID J. EPSTEIN report. “At the same time, there has been increasing discussion among the broader Biden team about the notion of a low-key video announcement on April 25, the fourth anniversary of his entrance to the 2020 race — the kind of symmetry that Mr. Biden is said to appreciate.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Axios’s MIKE ALLEN about an incoming manufacturing boom across the country. “Companies have committed more than $200 billion to U.S. manufacturing projects” partly as a result of the president’s CHIPS and Science Act. White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS told Axios that the Trump administration “talked a lot about bringing jobs back to America, but failed to take real action. President Biden is taking action and delivering results — creating good-paying manufacturing jobs at home.” White House deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES tweeted out the piece.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This article by NYT’s HANNAH DREIER about how the administration is handling migrant child labor crises: “Over the past two years, more than 250,000 migrant children have come alone to the U.S. Thousands of children have ended up in punishing jobs across the country — working overnight in slaughterhouses, replacing roofs, operating machinery in factories — all in violation of child labor laws, a recent Times investigation showed.

“After the article’s publication in February, the White House announced policy changes and a crackdown on companies that hire children. But all along, there were signs of the explosive growth of this labor force and warnings that the Biden administration ignored or missed, The Times has found.”

AND MAYBE … The latest figures by FiveThirtyEight that show Biden’s approval rating is low as he gears up for a reelection bid. Our STEVEN SHEPARD reports “the numbers reveal Biden isn’t just struggling with independents and near-unanimous disapproval among Republicans. He’s also soft among Democrats and left-leaning demographic groups, a weakness that suggests a diminished enthusiasm for his candidacy.”

IT’S SOMETHING: LYNNE TRACY, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, on Monday visited detained Wall Street Journal reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH, saying he “is in good health and remains strong,” NBC News’ ROSE HOROWITCH reports.

SOME PROFESSIONAL NEWS: Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain is joining O’Melveny’s litigation department and its executive committee as a board member, Axios reports. Klain will be rejoining the firm, after working at O’Melveny from 1999 to 2004. The move will also allow Klain “the flexibility to be an informal senior adviser to Biden’s reelection campaign,” Mike Allen notes.

ECONOMY TEAM SHAPES UP: ERNIE TEDESCHI, formerly a senior policy economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, is now the agency’s chief economist, our VICTORIA GUIDA and KATY O’DONNELL report for Pro subscribers. Tedeschi’s first day in the new job was Monday.

THIS IS BECOMING LABOR INTENSIVE: JULIE SU’s path to confirmation to lead the Labor Department “is shaping up to be a critical test of Democrats’ ability to keep their paper-thin majority taped together,” our NICK NIEDZWIADEK and OLIVIA OLANDER report for Pro subscribers. Su’s route leaves little room for Democratic opposition, but many moderate Democrats say they remain undecided on how they’ll vote. More details here.

LET US EXPLAIN: Talks between the White House and congressional leaders about the debt limit have come to a halt, but as the default deadline looms, our JENNIFER SCHOLTES, PAULA FRIEDRICH and BEATRICE JIN break down, in a new interactive, what the next few months could look like for the U.S. government’s finances. We highly recommend you scroll through yourself, but in short, the U.S. “is most likely to reach the brink of default in August or September.”

BREAKING UP IS HARD: TikTok and consulting agency SKDK, which was co-founded by Biden’s senior adviser ANITA DUNN, have parted ways, WaPo’s CRISTIANO LIMA and DAVID DIMOLFETTA report. The firm “wrapped up its work for TikTok in recent weeks after assisting with its campaign to bring digital influencers to Capitol Hill,” they write. Our DANIEL LIPPMAN first reported about the partnership in March.

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO … Leaders from the Group of Seven are mulling over “how to pare their economic relationships with China, attempting to limit ties in certain sectors they view as strategic while preserving broader trade and investment flows with the world’s second-largest economy,” following Russia’s upending of natural gas exports after it invaded Ukraine, WSJ’s ANDREW DUEHREN and GREG IP.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like 2024 (NYT’s Maggie Astor)

The cream-cheese-stuffed bagel is here (CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner …take notes, Jeff Zients)

Vice President KAMALA HARRIS on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” on Thursday.

Life after the White House is serving former chief of staff Ron Klain well.

He told Axios’s Mike Allen that he’s sleeping better and walking more, losing 15 pounds since departing earlier this year.

“I’m on the ‘no more White House Mess cheeseburgers’ diet,” he said.

In November of 1974, President GERALD FORD became the first U.S. president to visit Japan, according to the White House Historical Association.

A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.