Press Secretary Jay Carney Resigns

NBC News reports:

President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance Friday to announce that his chief spokesman Jay Carney is leaving his post behind the podium. Obama called Carney one of his closest advisers and friends at the White House in remarks to the press in the White House briefing room. Deputy Josh Earnest will take over the job as the president's press secretary. "Today the flak jacket is officially passed to a new generation," he said of Earnest.

Carney, 49, took the job in January 2011.