Sam Kass, the fiancé of MSNBC host Alex Wagner, is not considered an "essential" federal employee and has been furloughed as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
According to food and agriculture writer Eddie Gehman Kohan, who runs the Obama Foodorama blog, Kass, the White House’s assistant chef and executive director of the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative, is one of the hundreds of White House staffers to be furloughed.
Kohan reported the news on Tuesday:
As one of a handful of staffers who have three separate titles, Kass is also senior policy adviser for nutrition policy, and as assistant chef, he still cooks evening meals for President Barack Obama and the first family.
Like other White House staffers, this is Kass' second furlough: He had a one-day furlough in late June due to sequester-related budget cuts. Staff now on furlough will remain out of work until the embattled Congress can agree to fund the government.
Kass is also responsible for much of the tweeting on the @LetsMove Twitter account, but a tweet posted to the account at 12:53 PM today read "Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the govt, this account will be inactive."