
 
 File: White House press secretary Jay Carney (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 
 
 President Obama announced Friday that Jay Carney will step down as White House press secretary after more than three years and be replaced by his deputy Josh Earnest, who worked on the Obama campaign in 2008. At Friday's White House news briefing, President Obama joined press secretary Jay Carney to announce that Carney would be leaving his post, to be replaced by deputy press secretary Josh Earnest. Obama called Carney one of his closest advisers and friends at the White House in remarks to the press in the White House briefing room. "Whatever it is, I know he's going to be outstanding at it." Play Facebook 
 
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 "I will continue to rely on him as a friend and an adviser after he leaves to spend as much of his summer as he can with his kids before he decides what's next for him," he added. "In April, Jay came to me in the Oval Office and said that he was thinking of moving on, and I was not thrilled, to say the least," he said. Carney, who has served as press secretary for over three years, called holding the job "an honor and a joy for me."
– President Obama had a second high-profile departure to announce today: Press secretary Jay Carney is resigning, reports the Washington Post. Obama called Carney one of his closest friends and advisers, notes NBC News. "Today the flak jacket is officially passed to a new generation," he said, referring to Carney's replacement: deputy press secretary Josh Earnest. "I will continue to rely on him as a friend and an adviser after he leaves to spend as much of his summer as he can with his kids before he decides what's next for him," said Obama. "Whatever it is, I know he's going to be outstanding at it." (We're guessing the folks at Morning Joe won't be sorry to see Carney go, with Mediaite noting that they again criticized him this morning for "insulting" reporters at his daily briefings.)