Dalton is expected to leave the White House in mid-March, sources said. She has been the White House's deputy press secretary since August 2022, reporting to Karine Jean-Pierre.

Dalton told senior Biden staff last week of her plans to depart for a job on Apple's communications team, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dalton has dealt with a wide array of domestic and foreign policy issues for Biden since 2006, when she was deputy press secretary for then-Senator Biden.

She spent most of President Barack Obama's first term as press secretary at the Transportation Department and was press secretary to first lady Michelle Obama during the 2012 reelection campaign.

Dalton entered the current administration in January 2021 as spokesperson at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She also served as a senior adviser at the National Security Council during the effort to resettle Afghan refugees across the United States.

One of the architects of U.S. President Joe Biden's economic policy, Joelle Gamble, is also leaving the White House, Reuters reported on Monday.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Bill Berkrot)

By Steve Holland