Obama Swaps a JP Morgan Chase Chief of Staff for a Citi One

Former JP Morgan Chase Exec Bill Daley has finally quit the job he sucked at, White House Chief of Staff. He will be replaced by former Citi Exec and current OMB Director Jack Lew.

Chicagoan Bill Daley is stepping down as White House chief of staff and budget director Jack Lew is taking over the president’s team as it heads into a tough election year, senior administration officials say.

Daley gave his letter of resignation to the president in a private meeting in the Oval Office last week, recounting the administration’s successes of his one year on the job and saying it was time for him to return to his hometown of Chicago.

Obama plans to announce the change in leadership in a public event this afternoon. The official shift will take place at the end of this month, giving Lew time to complete the administration’s budget proposal while Daley leads the team through the crafting of the State of the Union address due in two weeks.

The guy who’s been doing Daley’s job for some time–Pete Rouse–and who appears to be quite good at the job has no ties with any TBTF bank.

I guess that’s why he’s not getting the job officially.

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13 replies
  1. allan says:

    Talk about rearranging the deck board of directors chairs.
    And still the .01%-ers will whine about being disrespected.

  2. Bob Schacht says:

    The job of COS is different now than it was last October. In the year ahead, economic and budget battles will dominate (including jobs, jobs, jobs), and Lew is better situated to manage those issues for Obama’s campaign. And apparently Daley sucked at it. Besides, Obama has decided to run against Congress, so there is less need for a deal-maker like Daley, although I’ve heard that Lew has good Congressional relationships, too.

    But what will Pete Rouse’s responsibilities be?

    Bob in AZ

  3. MadDog says:

    “Obama Swaps a JP Morgan Chase Chief of Staff for a Citi One”

    Let’s hope that AIG isn’t again providing “insurance” for this swap.

  4. hcgorman says:

    I think Rouse is on record for not wanting the job…but keeps coming back to put his finger in the leaking boat until someone can be found….can’t blame him for not wanting the job!

  5. bmaz says:

    @Bob Schacht:

    What???

    Daley was not even close to being a “deal maker with Congress”. In fact, he was so far from that, it was pathetic and made Rahm look like a genius. Maybe that comparison would not hold as to other duties of the COS, but as far as making “deals with Congress”, Daley was so far out of the spectrum as to be laughable.

  6. Bob Schacht says:

    @bmaz: Yes, but you’re saying that with hindsight. Wasn’t he originally brought to the job because of his hypothetical deal making ability? That didn’t work out so well, so they brought Pete Rouse in, but he didn’t do much better, did he?

    Anyway, I think his real reason for resigning was because he wasn’t very good at doing what he was hired to do.

    Bob in AZ

  7. thatvisionthing says:

    o/t, top story now on firedoglake:

    Mitt Romney’s Hype Man Excites Crowd with Blow Job Jokes
    By: TBogg Monday January 9, 2012 7:15 pm

  8. Bob Schacht says:

    Another O/T:
    Brent Musberger: “It’s a mauling, its a mauling” i.e. of LSU by Alabama, even though Alabama never scored a touchdown. But LSU got past the 50 yard line only once. Alabama shutting out LSU 15-0.

    Bob in AZ

  9. montag says:

    Tengrain put it best when he said that Obama loses more chiefs of staff than Spinal Tap does drummers.

    Too bad it hasn’t sunk in that maybe he’s dipping into the wrong labor pool for applicants….

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