White House Tweaks Daley’s Job Description

Posted on Nov 8, 2011

AP / Carolyn Kaster

Shake and switch: The Obama administration insists that Bill Daley’s role remains intact, but the chief of staff himself has said that he’s going home to Chicago after the next election.

Is the Obama administration doing a slow fade on Chief of Staff Bill Daley? The Chicago-bred heavy seems to have had a tough run of it since taking over for Rahm Emanuel, and though the White House denied any major power shifts, rumblings got out on Tuesday that Obama aide Pete Rouse has taken over some items on Daley’s task list. The timing certainly seems significant with the steady drumbeat of Campaign 2012 getting louder by the minute.  —KA

The New York Times:

The shift comes after a turbulent period in which Congressional Republicans have largely blocked the White House’s economic agenda, and Mr. Obama is still searching for the right management formula and message as the administration moves from deal making to a campaign mode heavy on partisan confrontation.

[...] White House officials played down the importance of the changes, which were first reported in the Wall Street Journal, saying they were designed to better coordinate the work of various White House offices and had come at Mr. Daley’s request. Mr. Daley, they insisted, was not giving up day-to-day management of the West Wing.

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