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Uber has appointed its first chief operating officer since 2019, as chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi shakes up senior leadership and loosens his grip on the ride-hailing company.

Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s head of mobility, has been appointed president and chief operating officer with immediate effect, according to public filings. He will be the company’s second-in-command, responsible for overseeing the mobility and food delivery sides of the business.

Macdonald, who joined Uber in 2012 and is known by colleagues as Mac, will report directly to Khosrowshahi. He will take charge of the company’s autonomous business as well as its membership service.

“This is a natural next step in our evolution as a company, as we drive growth by increasing engagement across our entire platform,” said Khosrowshahi. “Mac has proven himself as a highly effective leader at Uber, and I’m thrilled for him to step into this important new role.”

The reorganisation comes as Uber seeks to become a leading platform for a variety of services, including restaurant bookings and retail, while improving co-ordination across its core food and ride-hailing businesses. It also aims to become the platform of choice for autonomous vehicles.

Khosrowshahi reassured Uber employees that he was not planning to leave the business, according to an internal memo. “I recognise the change might prompt some questions about my future, so I’ll be clear: I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon,” he wrote.

Macdonald’s promotion means Khosrowshahi will pare back some of his day-to-day responsibilities. It will mean that the Uber chief does not have to be the final decision maker on all critical business decisions, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Newly appointed heads of mobility and delivery will report to Macdonald alongside a new head of autonomous mobility and delivery. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s head of delivery, also announced on Monday his departure after nearly 13 years in post.

A former Uber executive told the Financial Times that it was unclear what Khosrowshahi could do next if he were to move on from his current post.

The Uber chief has been in post since 2017, when he replaced co-founder Travis Kalanick. Khosrowshahi joined Uber from Expedia when the ride-hailing company was mired in allegations of sexual harassment. He led Uber to its first annual operating profit in 2023 and repeated the feat last year.

“Dara is the hardest-working person on the planet. My one criticism is that he runs everything and has a lot of direct reports,” the former executive said. “No other company would give him that amount of control.”

Macdonald will relocate from Toronto to New York, where many of the company’s leadership are based, including Khosrowshahi. He will receive $5mn in stock subject to time and performance objectives.

This article has been amended to reflect that Macdonald will relocate to New York, from Toronto.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa defended herself Monday after drawing attention for telling a town hall attendee worried about proposed changes to Medicaid that “we all are going to die.”

“I’m very compassionate, and you need to listen to the entire conversation,” Ernst told CBS News on Monday.

Ernst’s now-viral musings on mortality came during a contentious town hall meeting Friday, as attendees grilled the senator about a GOP-backed domestic policy bill that passed the House last month. The legislation — titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, after President Trump referred to the measure that way — would impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients, among other changes.

At one point, as Ernst explained some of the legislation’s changes to the low-income health insurance program, a person appeared to yell that people will die.

“People are not — well, we all are going to die, so for heaven’s sakes,” Ernst responded.

Ernst went on to say that the legislation would “focus on those that are most vulnerable” and added, “those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid we will protect.”

The senator later dug in and posted a sarcastic apology video to Instagram.

“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth. So, I apologize,” Ernst said in the video. “I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well.”

The town hall comments drew criticism from some potential opponents of Ernst, who is up for reelection next year. Nathan Sage, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Senate, said Ernst is “not even trying to hide her contempt for us.” And Democratic state Rep. JD Scholten announced Monday he’s entering the race, saying in an Instagram post he wasn’t planning to launch his campaign now but “can’t sit on the sidelines” after Ernst’s town hall.

The House-passed bill would add restrictions to Medicaid, including a work, volunteer or schooling requirement for non-disabled adults without children. The bill would also add more frequent eligibility checks, cut funding for states that use the Medicaid system to cover undocumented immigrants, freeze provider taxes and ban coverage for gender transition services. 

The bill’s proposed changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, could save hundreds of billions of dollars, which would help pay for extending Mr. Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boosting border security.

But before it reaches Mr. Trump’s desk, the bill still needs to pass the Senate, where some Republicans are pushing to roll back some of the Medicaid cuts. In last week’s town hall, Ernst said she agrees with parts of the legislation passed by the House, but “the bill will be changing.”