White House Office

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

President Obama meeting 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 Emmanuel (former 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, which was temporarily Pete Rouse, replaced on January 6, 2010 with the permanent appointment of William M. Daley, who is also the head of the Executive Office. 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.

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.

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.

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 exerting centripetal force and 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.

Current Key Offices and Staff

• Counselor to the President: Pete Rouse

• Senior Advisor to the President: David Plouffe

• Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement: Valerie Jarrett

Office of the Chief of Staff

• Assistant to the President and White House Chief of Staff: Jacob Lew
  • Chief of Staff to the Chief of Staff:

Office of Administration

• • Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Operations: Alyssa Mastromonaco

Office of Management and Administration

• • Assistant to the President for Management and Administration: Bradley Kileyref name=whostaff8>"Additional White House staff announced" (Press release). Office of the President-Elect. http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/additional_white_house_staff_announced/. Retrieved 21 April 2009. </ref>
  • White House Operations
  • White House Personnel
  • Visitors Office
  • Telephone Office

Office of the Staff Secretary

• Deputy Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary:
  • Associate Staff Secretary:
    • Assistant Staff Secretary:
    • Assistant Staff Secretary:
    • Assistant Staff Secretary:

• Executive Clerk
  • Deputy Executive Clerk
    • Assistant Executive Clerk
    • Assistant Executive Clerk
      • Assistant to the Executive Clerk
      • Assistant to the Executive Clerk

• Records Management

• Presidential Correspondence

Office of Presidential Personnel

Office of Scheduling and Advance

Oval Office Operations

• Director of Oval Office Operations: Brian Mosteller
• Personal Secretary to the President: Anita Decker-Breckenridge
• Personal Aide to the President: Reggie Love

Office of Policy Development

• • Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy: Nancy-Ann DeParle

Office of Cabinet Affairs

• Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Cabinet Secretary: Elizabeth Sears Smith

Office of Communications

• Assistant to the President for Communications and White House Communications Director: Dan Pfeiffer
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Communications: Jennifer Psaki
• Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting: Jon Favreau
• Assistant to the President and Press Secretary: Jay Carney

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
  • Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady: David Medina
    • Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady: Jocelyn C. Frye

Office of Legislative Affairs

• Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs: Rob Nabors
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Legislative Affairs Director: Lisa Konwinski
    • Deputy Director for the U.S. House of Representatives: Jonathan D. Samuels
    • Deputy Director for the U.S. Senate: Shawn Maher

Office of Political Affairs

• Director of the Office of Political Affairs: Patrick Gaspard
  • Deputy Director of Political Affairs: Patrick Dillon

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
  • 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
  • Office of Urban Affairs Policy
    • Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Urban Affairs: Adolfo Carrion

Office of the White House Counsel

• Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President: Robert Bauer
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Counsel to the President:Daniel J. Meltzer
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President: Cassandra Butts
  • Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President: Mary B. DeRosa

White House Fellows

• Director, President's Commission on White House Fellowships: Cindy Moelis

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