The New Obama Administration: Key Positions

Key positions announced as of 12/1/08:

Frequently updated at:  http://livableworld.org/news/obama_key_positions/

White House
Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel
Deputy Chief of Staff:Jim Messina
Deputy Chief of Staff: Mona Sutphen

Senior adviser & intergovernmental relations and public liaison: Valerie Jarrett
Senior adviser to the President: Peter Rouse
Senior advisor to the President: David Axelrod

Legislative affairs: Phil Schiliro
White House counsel: Gregory Craig
Vice President Chief of Staff: Ron Klain
Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown
Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu

Director of the Office of Political Affairs: Patrick Gaspard
Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Desirée Rogers
Director of Scheduling and Advance: Alyssa Mastromonaco

Director of Communications: Ellen Moran
Press secretary: Robert Gibbs
Deputy Director of Communications: Dan Pfeiffer
Director of Speechwriting: Jonathan Favreau
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs: Cecilia Muñoz

Vice President’s office
Vice President Chief of Staff: Ron Klain
Counsel to the Vice President: Cynthia Hogan
Director of Administration for the Office of the Vice President: Moises (Moe) V. Vela, Jr
Counselor to the Vice President: Mike Donilon
Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President: Terrell McSweeny
Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison: Evan Ryan
Chief of Staff for Dr. Jill Biden: Catherine (Cathy) M. Russell
Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady: Melissa Winter

Economic team:
Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy F. Geithner
Director of the National Economic Council: Lawrence H. Summers
Director of the Council of Economic Advisors: Christina D. Romer
Director of the Domestic Policy Council: Melody C. Barnes
Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council: Heather A. Higginbottom
Office of Management and Budget Director: Peter Orszag
Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director: Rob Nabors
Chair of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board : Paul Volcker
Staff Director and Chief Economist of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board & Member of the Council of Economic Advisers: Austan Goolsbee

National security team
Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton
Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates
National Security Advisor: General Jim Jones, USMC (Ret)
Ambassador to the United Nations: Susan Rice
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: Governor Janet Napolitano
Attorney General: Eric Holder

Key national security positions involved in weapons of mass destruction issues (announced and not yet announced :

White House – Office of Management and Budget
Office of Management and Budget Director: Peter Orszag
Associate Director for National Security Programs

White House – National Security Council
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor): General Jim Jones, USMC (Ret) .
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy and Strategy
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterproliferation Strategy

Defense Department
Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates
Deputy Undersecretary for Policy
Assistant Secretary for Global Security Affairs
Assistant Secretary for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities
Assistant to the Secretary for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs
Director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Energy Department
Secretary of Energy
Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration
Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, National Nuclear Security Administration
Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Nuclear Security Administration

State Department
Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security
Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs
Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation
Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation

Department of Homeland Security
Undersecretary fo Science and Technology
Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer

Vice President’s office
Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs

Transition team:

Obama-Biden Transition Project – 3 co-chairs: John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.

Transition team advisory board: Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman.

Transition Senior Staff: Chris Lu – Executive Director
Dan Pfeiffer – Communications Director
Stephanie Cutter – Chief Spokesperson
Cassandra Butts – General Counsel
Jim Messina – Personnel Director
Patrick Gaspard – Associate Personnel Director
Christine Varney – Personnel Counsel
Melody Barnes – Co-Director of Agency Review
Lisa Brown – Co-Director of Agency Review
Phil Schiliro – Director of Congressional Relations
Michael Strautmanis – Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
Katy Kale – Director of Operations
Brad Kiley – Director of Operations

Vice President-elect’s transition team: Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman.

Agency Review Co-Chairs: Melody Barnes, Lisa Brown, Don Gips
Working Group Members: Seth Harris, David J. Hayes, Reed Hundt, Sally Katzen, Tom Perez, Sarah Sewall, Louisa Terrell, Ray Rivera, Michael Warren, Tom Wheeler, Jon Wilkins

Sarah Sewall is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for the national security agencies.

Chief spokeswoman for national security: Brooke Anderson

Department of State Agency Review Team Leads: Tom Donilon, Wendy R. Sherman
Senior advisor for State transition: Warren Christopher
Others on team: Natasha Bilimoria, Esther Brimmer, Lee Feinstein, Robert Gelbard, Matthew Goodman, Michael Guest, Vicki Huddleston, Joseph Huggins, Brian McKeon, Samantha Power, Puneet Talwar, Robert Einhorn

Foreign Assistance
Foreign Assistance (USAID, MCC and PEPFAR) Review Team Leads: Gayle Smith, Aaron Williams
Others on US AID team: Frederick Barton, Wendy Chamberlin, Valerie Dickson-Horton, Sheila Herrling, Larry Nowels

Department of Defense Agency Review Team Leads: John P. White, Michèle A. Flournoy
Informal senior adviser role throughout the defense transition process: Sam Nunn
Others on team: Kurt Campbell, Ashton Carter, Janine Davidson, Matthew Flavin, Jeh Johnson, Donald Kerrick, Ellen Maldonado, James McCleskey, Craig Mullaney, Andrew Shapiro, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Robert Work

National Security Council:
National Security Council Review Team Leads: Antony Blinken, Ivo Daalder, Mara Eve Rudman
Also on team: Derek Chollet

Department of Energy:

Department of Homeland Security:
Department of Homeland Security Review Team Leads: Rand Beers, Clark Kent Ervin
Others on team: Beverly Aimaro Pheto, Rachana Bhowmik, Philip Crowley, Juliette Kayyem, Robert Knake, David Martin, Juan Otero, Nelson Peacock Subhasri Ramanathan, Michael Sheehan

Intelligence Community Review Team Leads: (Includes Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Counterterrorism Center): John O. Brennan, Judith A. (“Jami”) Miscik
Also on team: Jennifer Sims
Others on Director of National Intelligence team: Maureen Baginski, Adam Cohn, Robert Harding, Andrew Johnson, Edward Levine, Eric Pelofsky, James Schear, Caryn Wagner

Office of Management and Budget Review Team Lead: Barbara Chow
Others on OMB team:: Gordon Adams, Michael Deich, TJ Glauthier, Jeffrey Liebman, Marcia Occomy, Victoria Wachino