Ned Price to step down as US State Department spokesperson; Vedant Patel to be interim spokesperson

Vedant Patel, who is currently the Deputy Spokesperson, would be the interim spokesperson. Ned Price’s replacement has not been announced yet Washington: Ned Price will step down as the spokesperson of the US State Department this month, and Indian-American Vedant Patel, who is currently the Deputy Spokesperson, will be the interim spokesperson. “This month, Ned Price will step down as the State Department’s Spokesperson,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday while crediting Price with resuming the department’s daily press briefings that had been sporadic during the previous Trump administration. “His contributions will benefit the Department long after his service.” In a statement, Shaun Tandon, president of the State Department Correspondents’ Association, said the press corps at the State Department salute Price for restoring one of the pillars of American diplomacy - the Daily Press Briefing. “Thanks to Ned, the Daily Press Briefing now seems routine and that is how it should be it offers an opportunity for press from around the world to question the foreign policy of the United States, often critically, and requires the State Department to defend it.