Former head of Washington Employment Security Department leaves Biden admin job

Washington state’s former Employment Security Department commissioner is leaving the job she took in the Biden administration after just seven months.

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In a message on LinkedIn, Suzi LeVine wrote that she was stepping down from her role as Acting Assistant Secretary at the Employment and Training Administration in the Department of Labor.

She explained that she could not be in Washington, D.C., away from her family to the extent that the job required.

“With my daughter heading into her final two years of high school and an 83-year-old mom, relocating is not an option for my family right now,” LeVine said in her LinkedIn post.

Prior to her appointment in February to the job with the Biden administration, the Employment Security Department in Washington state was at the center of controversy during LeVine’s last year as commissioner. In 2020, when LeVine was in charge, fraudsters stole hundreds of millions of dollars from ESD, and Washingtonians waiting on unemployment faced backlogs of thousands of people.

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LeVine says she does not yet know what she will do next.

“I feel so fortunate to have served my country in this capacity and to have been able to bring my skills and experiences to bear on the critical work that we’re doing at this historic moment,” LeVine wrote.

KIRO Radio reporter Nicole Jennings contributed to this report.

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