Barack Obama’s historic win in the presidential race means a tide of Democrats will move from the Hill to administration positions across the executive branch.
Although lobbying sources and congressional aides say it’s early to be linking names to titles, there’s plenty of talk and speculation, much of it concerning staff for Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the incoming White House chief of staff.
Phil Schiliro is already headed to the White House. The Obama transition team announced Saturday that Schiliro, a long time senior aide to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), will serve as assistant to the president for legislative affairs. Schiliro had been working as director of Congressional relations for the transition team after joining the Obama campaign as a senior adviser full-time back in July.
Schiliro's new roll was announced in a statement that said longtime Obama insider Valerie Jarrett would serve as a senior to advisor to the president, while Ron Klain, a former chief counsel to Biden on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will take the job of chief of staff to the vice president.
Others could soon be joining Schiliro.
Pete Rouse, Obama’s Senate chief of staff, was named as a senior adviser to Obama on Sunday.
Antony (Tony) Blinken, the chief of staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is Biden’s closest foreign policy adviser and is likely to work directly for the vice president, while Brian McKeon, the committee’s chief counsel, is expected to take a high-level counsel position either at the State Department or the National Security Council.
Another committee staffer, Jonah Blank, staff director for the East Asian and Pacific Affairs subcommittee, is thought to be a candidate for deputy assistant secretary of defense in the policy arena at the Pentagon or as an assistant secretary at the State Department focused on South Asia. Peter Levine, general counsel for the Senate Armed Services Committee, could be another candidate for a Pentagon position.
Danny O’Brien, who became Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-N.J.) chief of staff earlier this year, also could join the new administration. Before working for Menendez, O’Brien served as Biden’s chief of staff and political director for his presidential campaign.
Two press aides from Biden’s congressional office, Elizabeth Alexander and Annie Tomasini, are now on the new administration’s transition team, sending out statements for the vice president-elect.
The members of Emanuel’s press shop are all expected to find positions at the White House. That would mean moves down Pennsylvania Avenue for Sarah Feinberg, Nick Papas and Kathleen Connery.
Timothy Reif, the chief Democratic trade counsel on Ways and Means, is widely thought to be a candidate for deputy U.S. trade representative. His counterpart on Finance, Demetrios Marantis, could be a candidate for a post with the trade office of the Commerce or Treasury departments, sources said.
Ken Kopocis, senior counsel for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is thought to be a candidate as assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, while Franz Wuerfmannsdobler, an aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) on the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee, could join Obama’s Energy Department. Stephanie Mercier, chief economist on the Senate Agriculture Committee, is seen by some as a candidate to negotiate agriculture trade policy for the U.S. trade office.
Elizabeth Gore, Dorgan’s chief of staff, is considered a promising candidate for Obama’s legislative affairs shop. As the top aide to a member of the Democratic leadership, Gore has worked with many members of the upper chamber.
Ed Pagano, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) chief of staff, has been mentioned for jobs at the Department of Justice. Pagano formerly served as senior counsel on the Judiciary panel.
Several senior Democratic Senate staffers have been talked about as ideal candidates for an Obama administration because their bosses are stepping down from key committee posts.
Andy Johnson, chief of staff for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is expected to join the administration, perhaps with the National Security Council or the Director of National Intelligence. Johnson used to work closely with the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and could fit well at either agency.
Charles Kieffer, Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) staff director on the Senate Appropriations Committee, is considered an ideal fit for the Office of Management and Budget.
David Strickland, senior counsel on the Commerce Committee under Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who is taking over Appropriations, is considered a candidate for the Treasury Department. He also played an important role on legislation setting standards for toy safety and fuel efficiency. He could also land jobs at the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Alexander Bolton, Roxana Tiron, Kevin Bogardus, Susan Crabtree, Mike Soraghan, Jared Allen and
Ian Swanson contributed to this article.
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