As is the case with all presidential transitions, the imminent end of the Biden administration will inevitably put a large number of D.C. notables back on the job market.

Among those likely to be seeking new employment in a few weeks' time is White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, but due to her controversial, often-criticized performance in her current role, her ability to secure a plum position after Jan. 20 is the subject of some debate, as the Daily Caller reports.

Controversies place future in question

Throughout her tenure behind the podium in the White House briefing room, Jean-Pierre has been the source of much frustration -- and often derision -- from journalists and the public.

From her habit of offering little more than vague generalities to critical questions about the administration's stance on key issues to presenting what some have suggested are outright lies, Jean-Pierre's tenure has been far from smooth.

Most recently, as Fox News noted, Jean-Pierre was taken to task over the fact that, despite many prior declarations that President Joe Biden would not offer clemency to his son, Hunter Biden, that is precisely what occurred on Dec. 1, something that only added to the reputation of providing nothing but misdirection and obfuscation to the media.

The AP's Zeke Miller called Jean-Pierre out on the discrepancy days later, saying, “You were asked about the president pardoning his son and you said, 'It's a no. It will be a no. It's a no.' I'm wondering if you would like to explain to us, to the American people, really, why the information you provided turned out not to be true.”

Jean-Pierre, accustomed to being challenged by folks such as Fox News' Peter Doocy, but less often by the likes of Miller, replied simply that “circumstances have changed.”

Soft-landing still possible?

Despite the sense in D.C. and elsewhere that Jean-Pierre has been a notably ineffective press secretary, many experts who spoke to the Daily Caller suggested that she will likely still find a visible -- and lucrative -- home on cable news, following in the footsteps of her predecessor in the Biden White House, Jen Psaki, who now hosts a show on MSNBC.

Curtis Houck of NewsBusters believes Jean-Pierre need not worry, stating, “I fully anticipate someone will hire her as a contributor, whether it be a return to MSNBC or even CNN.”

That is not to say that Houck is of the opinion that the outgoing spokesperson deserves such a cushy spot, adding, “In a merit-based world, Karine Jean-Pierre would be unemployable in TV news. It's still remarkable to me that she spent years as an established cable news pundit and sitting for lengthy segments where guests would have to think on their feet and go beyond talking points.”

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist offered a similarly unflattering -- yet ultimately similar -- assessment of Biden's press flak and her likely next stop, saying to the Daily Caller, “KJP was so dumb, so dishonest, and so bad at her job that I can only assume she'll have a show on CBS News next year.”

Emily Jashinsky of UnHerd, however, posited that Jean-Pierre may find it hard to snag a truly top-tier job on cable news, musing, “The Biden brand is bad, even on the left right now. It may be difficult for people like KJP to get jobs as prominent as Jen Psaki's at MSNBC, given that Psaki departed before the wheels really started to fall off the administration.”

All her fault?

Though Jean-Pierre has certainly taken her share of unflattering reviews during her time in the White House, Fox News' Dana Perino has, on occasion, offered a defense of her seeming ineptitude, suggesting that the press secretary can only be as good as the information her boss allows her to have.

“I feel Biden did her a disservice,” Perino recently said regarding the pardon controversy, according to Mediaite. “Because if you are going to do that to your press secretary, you should be the one to stand up and take the arrows and take the questions and say, 'Don't blame her. That was my position. I changed my mind and here is why,' but he's incapable of doing that,” adding that because of the president's unwillingness to be forthcoming, KJP “has basically become a pinata.”