Potomac Flacks

Obama White House Deputy Communications Director Jen Psaki Departs for GSG

First reported by Politico’s Mike Allen, White House Deputy Communications Director Jen Psaki is departing to become Senior Vice President / Managing Director at the well-known Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group.  Her first day is Oct. 17 and her last day at the White House was Sept. 22. 

Psaki is one of the longest serving Obama communications aides, investing the last four years on both the campaign and in the White House.

According to Politico’s Allen, “Psaki, 32, started with the Obama campaign as Deputy Press Secretary in February 2007, then became Traveling Press Secretary in the Fall. She flew to 47 states (all but Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama) and five countries with the then-Senator.

Psaki, a native of Greenwich, CT and a 2000 graduate of the College of William and Mary, according to the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, previously served at the “Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), as well as on the re-election bids of Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA).

Here’s a July 2011 profile of Psaki in her hometown Greenwich magazine.

Allen reports that Psaki hopes to be an Obama surrogate in the 2012 cycle.  (Politico & the Washington Post)

Assistant White House Press Secretary Shapiro Moves to NSC

First reported in Politico’s “Playbook”, Nick Shapiro, a White House Assistant Press Secretary, has been named Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan.

Shapiro will provide direct support to Brennan on the development, interagency coordination and outreach on a range of strategic homeland security and counterterrorism initiatives.  (Politico’s “Playbook”)

White House Press Office Promotes Earnest, Hires DNI's Smith

First reported in Politico’s “Playbook”, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced late last week the promotion of Josh Earnest and the hiring of Jamie Smith.

Earnest (pictured at right in center) has been promoted to a newly created position, Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary.  Carney said Earnest will assume responsibility for briefing reporters and traveling with President Obama when he is unable to do so, as well as helping oversee the press staff.

Smith (pictured at left) joins the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary, where she will serve as an on-the-record spokesperson and manage the day-to-day operations of the press office.  Smith currently serves as Director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).  She previously served as Communications Director for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Traveling Press Director for the Hillary Clinton for President campaign, Communications Director for former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Albright Group and Legislative Aide to Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).  Smith is a native of Buffalo Grove, IL and a graduate of Kenyon College.  (Politico’s “Playbook”)

White House Director of Press Advance Lillie Heads to NY, Replaced by Maska

First reported in Politico’s “Playbook”, Katie Lillie (pictured at left) will depart the White House on April 27 after serving as Director of Press Advance for New York, where she will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Lillie served on the Obama campaign and previously for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS).  She is a graduate of Kenyon College.

Her replacement at the White House is senior press lead Johanna Maska (pictured at right), who joined the Obama team in Iowa in June 2007.  She has the distinction of having served as the press lead on both Iowa Caucus night and on Election Day in 2008, where she witnessed then-Sen. Obama voting.

Maska is a native of Galesburg, KS and a 2004 graduate of the University of Kansas.  Her hometown newspaper, the Galesburg Register-Mail, wrote about her when she first began working at the White House.  (Politico’s “Playbook”)

 

White House Communications Reorganization, New Hires Announced

From Politico’s Mike Allen, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer announced the following new hires, amid a reorganization of the White House communications shop:

Kate Bedingfield will transition to one of the three new Associate Communications Directors positions from the White House Regional Media operation.

Sandra Abrevaya will join Kate as an Associate Communications Director, from the U.S. Department of Education.

According to Pfeiffer, Bedingfield and Abrevaya will work in coordination with the press office, cabinet affairs and the policy and outreach teams to help manage communications aspects of Administration initiatives including policy rollouts, proactive planning and amplification around presidential announcements.

Pfeiffer also announced that they will begin transitioning the regional desks to the press office, reporting to Josh Earnest.

Bobby Whithorne also joined this week as Writer, with point responsibility for talking points, releases and other roll-out / event-related writing. Whithorne comes to the White House from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Public Affairs. 

Finally, Pfeiffer announced that the constituency desks will be reporting to Jen Psaki.  (Politico)

WaPo’s Murray Named Communications Director for Vice President Biden

First reported by the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, veteran political reporter Shailagh Murray is leaving the Washington Post to serve as Communications Director for Vice President Joe Biden.

Murray has spent the past six years covering Congress and political campaigns for the Washington Post. Previously, Murray was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from 1999 to 2005 covering politics and Congress and was also stationed as a correspondent in Brussels and Prague for the WSJ.

Murray replaces Jay Carney, the former Washington Bureau Chief for Time Magazine who was promoted to White House Press Secretary.

Murray is a New York native who grew up in Charlottesville and Richmond, VA.  She earned a Bachelor’s in Humanities from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University.  (Washington Post)

White House Deputy Press Secretary Burton, Press Aide Hogan Departing Friday

In separate announcements, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and press aide Katie Hogan both announced Wednesday that they will depart the White House Friday. 

Burton, who was considered for the position of White House Press Secretary to replace Robert Gibbs and would have been the first African-American White House Press Secretary, is leaving to launch a political and strategic consulting firm with White House colleague Sean Sweeney.  Sweeney and Burton served at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee together during the 2006 cycle as Political Director and Communications Director respectively.  Sweeney was an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  Burton joined then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2007 and was a national spokesman for his presidential campaign.  He had previously worked for former Rep. Richard Gephardt’s (D-MO) 2004 presidential campaign and for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and former Rep. Bill Luther (D-MN). 

Hogan has worked for Obama for four years and said she plans to take the next few months off before deciding her next professional move.  (PF tipster)

 

Axelrod Aide Lesser to Serve as Communications Aide for Goolsbee

Per the Washington Post’s “Morning Fix” column, Eric Lesser, the wunderkind who began as a baggage boy on President Obama's 2008 campaign and rose rapidly through the ranks to serve as David Axelrod's Special Assistant in the White House, has landed a new gig as Director of Strategic Planning at the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).  In his new post, Lesser is aiding CEA head Austan Goolsbee with press outreach and broader communications strategy.  Lesser's new job comes in the wake of Axelrod's departure from the White House -- one of a series of moves aimed at beginning the planning for Obama's 2012 re-election effort.  The New York Times profiled Axelrod and Lesser in 2009.  (Washington Post’s “Morning Fix”)

Biden Comms Director, Former Time DC Bureau Chief Carney Named New White House Press Secretary

Jay Carney, the Communications Director for Vice President Joe Biden, has been named the new White House Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs.  Carney is expected to begin briefing duties in mid-February when Gibbs exits.

Carney was a journalist at Time magazine for 20 years, rising to the position of Washington Bureau Chief, before heading to the White House to work for then Vice President-elect Biden in 2008.

Carney is married to ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman and they have two children.

Most reporting describes the choice of Carney as an outsider (in that he was never part of the Obama inner circle) but also someone who has worked in the West Wing for the Vice President for two years.  Carney is known to have strong relationships with the Washington press corps, of which he was recently a member, and he is described as less confrontational than Gibbs.

Carney was selected over other candidates, including internal White House candidates Bill Burton, Jen Psaki and Josh Earnest, and external candidates former DNC Communications Director Karen Finney, current DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell and Treasury Counselor Jake Siewert.

Carney will not receive the title of Counselor to the President, as Gibbs did, and will report to White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer.

Here’s how the major news organizations led their stories about Carney’s hiring:

NEW YORK TIMES: Jay Carney, the spokesman for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a former Washington bureau chief for Time magazine, will become White House press secretary as part of a final flurry of personnel changes in a months-long makeover of the West Wing.

WASHINGTON POST: President Obama named ex-journalist Jay Carney as the next White House press secretary on Thursday, rounding out a broad personnel restructuring within the West Wing after the midterm elections.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: President Barack Obama named Jay Carney to be White House press secretary Thursday, elevating a former journalist to be a prominent public face of the administration.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Jay Carney, the spokesman for Vice President Joe Biden, will replace Robert Gibbs as President Obama's press secretary, the White House announced Thursday.

USA TODAY: Jay Carney, the communications director for Vice President Biden, will be the new White House press secretary, chief of staff William Daley announced Thursday. Carney, 45, a former reporter for Time magazine, will replace spokesman Robert Gibbs when he leaves in mid-February.

POLITICO: President Barack Obama on Thursday named Jay Carney, communications director for Vice President Joe Biden and former Washington bureau chief for TIME magazine, to replace Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

White House Interviews at Least Five Candidates for Press Secretary

Politico reports that “the search for a new White House press secretary is moving more rapidly than anticipated – with at least four internal candidates and one from outside already interviewed by President Obama adviser David Plouffe and his new chief of staff, William Daley, according to people close to the situation.

“Those interviewed include deputy press secretaries Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, deputy communications director Jennifer Psaki, Vice President Biden spokesman Jay Carney and Karen Finney, a former Democratic National Committee spokeswoman who is a frequent Democratic surrogate on the cable shows and a paid contributor at MSNBC.

“Carney, in particular, impressed in closed-door discussions, according to a Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Obama’s aides have not ruled out interviewing other candidates, sources said – and have interviewed at least one other in secret.

“But it’s now clear the search is a top priority for Daley and Plouffe, who could announce a successor to outgoing press secretary Robert Gibbs before the end of the month. Gibbs is expected to leave sometime in February, staying around a week or so to tutor his replacement.

“Most outside observers have portrayed the choice as between a Gibbs-type spokesman – a wired insider who could speak authoritatively on anything – or a Tony Snow type, modeled on the smooth, affable but sometimes out-of-the-loop former Fox personality who took the podium during George W. Bush’s second term.

“But inside the West Wing, officials are looking for a third type of press secretary, a fresh-faced newcomer who will focus less on politics — leaving that to the political operatives in Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters — and more on the mechanics of government, putting a competent professional face on an administration trying to transcend the partisan fray.

“Stephanie Cutter, a special assistant to the president, has consistently told Obama’s aides that she’s not interested in the job, even though many top staffers in the West Wing are still holding out hope that she’ll change her mind.

“Jennifer Palmieri, a senior vice president at the progressive Center for American Progress, another top-tier communications specialist, has also taken herself out of the running, CNN’s Ed Henry reports – after spying Palmieri returning from a lunch in the West Wing yesterday.” (Politico)