President Barack Obama will appoint Ron Klain to lead the Ebola response in the U.S., a senior administration official told NBC News.
Klain has served as a senior White House aide to Obama and is a former chief of staff to two Democratic vice presidents: Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore.
The development came after Obama said Thursday that it may be appropriate to name an Ebola "czar."
Klain, a lawyer with the Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm Revolution LLC, will now report to the president's Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, a White House official said.
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Obama spoke about the possible need for an Ebola "czar" at the end of a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden and top White House officials.
Obama also said he didn't have a "philosophical objection" to imposing a travel ban from Ebola-afflicted West Africa. But he said experts told him that would be less effective than measures already in place.
He said a ban could result in people trying to hide where they are coming from and thus being less likely to be screened.
