With the midterm elections behind them and a new Congress rolling into town, the Obama administration is working on a new lineup of its own. Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, who took over in October when Rahm Emanuel left the White House to run for mayor of Chicago, has been devising a staff reorganization aimed at making the West Wing more effective.
How dramatic the changes will be or how big a shake-up Rouse is contemplating is still a matter of speculation, and so is the timing.
“In terms of the reorganization, obviously, that’s something that the chief of staff, the president and others are continuing to work on,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. “I don’t have a timeline for when any of those announcements would be made.”
Shaking up the staff is a standard move by presidents after significant setbacks or when the ship of state appears to be listing.
President Carter in 1979 demanded the resignation of 34 top aides, including Cabinet members, after realizing his government was a mess.
President Reagan undertook a massive shake-up at the start of his second term in 1985, including sending Chief of Staff James Baker III back to head the Treasury Department and bringing Treasury Secretary Don Regan in to take Baker’s job in the West Wing.
In one of many staff shake-ups of his administration, President Clinton in 1994 ejected Chief of Staff Mack McLarty and replaced him with budget director Leon Panetta. Panetta was later replaced by Erskine Bowles, who was replaced by John Podesta.
Former President George W. Bush went through four press secretaries in eight years, but managed to run through just two chiefs of staff: Andrew Card and Joshua Bolten.
The burnout rate at the top levels of government are high. The hours are long, the stakes enormous and stress levels untenable.
And for presidents, bumping the staff around gives the appearance of a fresh start and a note of responsiveness, even if many outside of Washington don’t even know the players.
For Obama, several things are happening soon. Senior adviser David Axelrod is leaving the White House early next year to work on the 2012 re-election campaign, along with Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina.
Several top officials have left of their own volition, including economic advisers Christina Romer and Lawrence Summers, budget chief Peter Orszag and national security adviser Jim Jones.
Former campaign manager David Plouffe is expected to join the West Wing staff, and some reports also have energy czar Carol Browner moving in as well.
Until now, Obama’s innermost circle has been made up of Axelrod, Emanuel and Gibbs. Gibbs is widely expected to leave the podium at some point and disappear into the West Wing to serve a broader advisory role.
But after suffering devastating losses in the last election, pressure is on Obama to make meaningful changes – and not just move the same people around.
“I don’t see any sort of realization by the White House that they need a major shake-up or signs that they are carrying one out,” said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. “Do they seriously believe sending Axelrod out and Plouffe in is a ‘shake-up’?”
