Karoline Leavitt will leave her position as White House press secretary at the end of August, ending a historic run as the youngest person ever to hold the job. Leavitt, the 28-year-old phenom who recently returned from maternity leave after having her second child, said she is stepping away to focus on her family. President Donald Trump has said she will remain a top outside adviser, while the White House has yet to announce her replacement.

Whoever replaces her will be taking on one of the strangest jobs in American politics.

The White House press secretary is effectively the lawyer for a presidential administration in the court of public opinion. They do not write policy, negotiate agreements, conduct military operations, or make decisions. But when something goes wrong — or simply becomes controversial — they are the person sent in front of dozens of reporters and millions of Americans to defend it.

That’s important when evaluating Leavitt’s tenure.

There were certainly moments when the administration’s messaging created problems for her. Whether the subject was the Epstein files, foreign policy, immigration, or another controversy, Leavitt was often responsible for explaining decisions she did not make herself. That is the job. A press secretary receives the administration’s position and then has to make the strongest possible case for it, often while reporters are trying to find contradictions in every word.

And under Trump, the job is particularly unique because the president essentially acts as his own press secretary.

Trump talks to reporters constantly. He answers questions leaving the White House, aboard Air Force One, at events, during Cabinet meetings, and through social media. That means his press secretary is not responsible for shaping the administration’s public identity as a spokesperson might be under a less accessible president. Instead, the job becomes much more about maintaining consistency and preventing unnecessary mistakes.

One poorly worded answer can become the headline for the next 24 hours. Consider how often Joe Biden’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, made herself the story with her remarks.

By contrast, Leavitt was generally effective in the position. She was aggressive, prepared, and willing to challenge reporters rather than simply accept the premise of every question. She also came into the administration already understanding Trump’s communication style, having served as his 2024 campaign press secretary and previously worked in his first administration.

That does not mean every answer was perfect. No press secretary survives hundreds of hours in front of cameras without eventually saying something that creates a controversy. But the standard should not be whether a spokesperson never makes a mistake. It should be whether that person can consistently defend the administration’s agenda while avoiding becoming the story themselves.

That will also be the challenge for whoever comes next.

There has naturally been speculation about whether Trump could choose a major media personality, and someone like Scott Jennings would certainly fit the combative environment of the modern press corps. But Trump’s previous choices suggest the White House could just as easily promote someone already familiar with the administration and its communications operation.

There is an argument for that approach. The next press secretary does not need to become a television celebrity. Trump already occupies that role himself. What the administration needs is someone disciplined enough to understand policy, quick enough to respond to hostile questioning, and diplomatic enough to know when fighting with the press helps Trump — and when it simply creates another unnecessary headline.

Leavitt understood that job better than most.

She was not the person making every decision she defended. She was the person making the administration’s case for those decisions every day.

In Washington, that may be about as close to being the president’s lawyer as a non-lawyer can get.