White House Office

White House Office
Agency overview
Formed	1857
Headquarters	West Wing of the White House
Employees	About 150
Agency executive	Denis McDonough, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President of the United States
Website	White House Office

President Barack Obama (in the foreground, facing away) meeting April 29, 2009 with senior White House staff.
Individuals present (l-r): David Axelrod (Senior Advisor to the President), Jim Messina (Deputy White House Chief of Staff), Peter Rouse (Chief of Staff, as of October 1, 2010), Rahm Emanuel (Chief of Staff), Robert Gibbs (Press Secretary), Phil Schiliro (Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs), Mona Sutphen (Deputy Chief of Staff), Alyssa Mastromonaco (Director of Scheduling and Advance) and Valerie Jarrett (Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison).

The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office.^[1] The staff of the various offices are based in the West Wing and East Wing of the White House, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and the New Executive Office Building. It is made up of personal assistants to the president with offices in the White House. These aides oversee the political and policy interests of the president and do not require Senate confirmation for appointment. They can be removed at the discretion of the president (Examples: National Security Adviser, special consultant to the president)

History

Established in the Executive Office of the President by Reorganization Plan 1 of 1939 and Executive Order 8248 to provide assistance to the President in the performance of his many detailed activities incident to his immediate office. The White House Office is organized in accordance with the wishes of each incumbent President and is directed by staff chosen by the President. A staff authorization was initially established in 1978 (92 Stat. 2445). Some presidential boards, committees, and commissions function organizationally as subunits of the White House Office.^[2]

Although still a subunit of the EOP, the White House Office remains the centerpiece of the presidential staff system. In many ways it is closest to the President both in physical proximity, its top aides occupy most of the offices in the West Wing, and in its impact on the day-to-day operations, deliberations, policy agendas, and public communications of a presidency. During the transition to office and continuing throughout an administration, the President enjoys a great deal of discretion in terms of how the White House Office is organized.^[1]

Mission

Presidents are free to determine what sub offices and functions will be represented in the staff structure. Most White Houses have some set of staffs handling national security, domestic, and economic policy, but their organizations can vary significantly. Most recent White Houses have offices that deal with the cabinet, congressional affairs, political affairs, intergovernmental affairs, and liaison with the public and a variety of constituency groups. There are usually large operations devoted to the media: a press office, a communications office, other media liaison, and the speechwriting staff. There are offices handling scheduling and preparations for when the President physically leaves the White House (the Advance Office), and a large White House personnel office that oversees presidential appointments throughout the government.

The issues that confront the United States at any one time can not be dealt with by the President alone, and therefore he (or she) must draw on the expertise of the staff he has surrounding him. Successfully launching a presidential policy initiative, effectively staging a presidential event, planning and conducting a meeting of world leaders, or delivering a major address to the nation, all require the collective contributions of different parts of the White House staff. For this to happen effectively there must be a few tough, strong offices pulling the pieces together. First and foremost is the Office of the Chief of Staff. The role and duties of a Chief of Staff vary from administration to administration and even within an administration as one chief of staff may differ from a predecessor or successor. While Chiefs of Staff may differ in the degree of policy advice they provide a President, they are at base the managers of the White House staff system. At least in theory, they are the coordinators bringing the pieces together; they are the tone-setters and disciplinarians making for good organizational order, and often act as the gatekeeper for the President, overseeing every person, document and communication that goes to the President.^[1]

www.whitehouseoffice/president.gov

• Counselor to the President: Pete Rouse ^[3]
• Assistant to the President and White House Communications Director: Daniel Pfeiffer
• Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting: Jon Favreau^[4]
• Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary: Jay Carney
• Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary: Josh Earnest

Office of the First Lady

• Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady: Christina M. Tchen
  • Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady: Melissa Winter^[5]
  • Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady: David Medina
    • Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady: Jocelyn C. Frye^[6]

Office of Legislative Affairs

• Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs: Miguel Rodriguez
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Legislative Affairs Director: Lisa Konwinski^[7]
    • Deputy Director for the U.S. House of Representatives: Jonathan D. Samuels
    • Deputy Director for the U.S. Senate: Shawn Maher^[8]

Office of Political Affairs

• Director of the Office of Political Affairs: Patrick Gaspard^[9]
  • Deputy Director of Political Affairs: Patrick Dillon^[10]

Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs

• Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement: Valerie Jarrett^[11]
• Special Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement: Yohannes Abraham^[12]
  • Office of Public Engagement
    • Director of Public Engagement: Jon Carson
  • Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
    • Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs:
    • Council on Women and Girls
      • Chair of the Council on Women and Girls: Valerie Jarrett^[13]
  • Office of Urban Affairs Policy
    • Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Urban Affairs: Adolfo Carrion^[14]

Office of the White House Counsel

• Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President: Kathryn Ruemmler
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Counsel to the President:Daniel J. Meltzer^[6]
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President: Cassandra Butts^[8]
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President: Mary DeRosa^[6]

White House Fellows

• Director, President's Commission on White House Fellowships: Cindy Moelis^[15]

White House Military Office

• Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office and Air Force One Operations: George D. Mulligan Jr.
  • Deputy Director of the White House Military Office for Operations:
  • White House Communications Agency (United States Army)
  • Presidential Airlift Group (United States Air Force)
  • White House Medical Unit (United States Navy)
  • Deputy Assistant and Physician to the President:
  • Camp David (United States Navy)
  • Marine Helicopter Squadron One (United States Marine Corps)
  • White House Mess or Presidential Food Service (United States Navy)
  • White House Transportation Agency (United States Army)
  • General Counsel

References

v t e Executive Office of the President of the United States Council of Economic Advisers Council on Environmental Quality National Security Council Homeland Security Council Office of Administration Office of Management and Budget Office of National Drug Control Policy Office of Science and Technology Policy Office of the United States Trade Representative President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board President's Intelligence Advisory Board White House Office Office of the Vice President

v t e White House Office Office of Cabinet Affairs Office of the Chief of Staff Office of Communications Office of the First Lady Office of Legislative Affairs Office of Management and Administration Oval Office Operations Office of Political Affairs Office of Presidential Personnel Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Office of the Press Secretary Office of Scheduling and Advance Office of the Senior Advisor Office of the Staff Secretary Office of the White House Counsel Office of Policy Development White House Fellows Counselor to the President