"John Podesta to formally join Obama inner circle"

[applegrove]

John Podesta to formally join Obama inner circle

Eric Jamison/AP at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-podesta-to-formally-join-obama-inner-circle/2013/12/09/7a4bc430-614f-11e3-bf45-61f69f54fc5f_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop

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John D. Podesta, who was chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and is one of the Democratic Party’s most experienced strategists, is joining the White House to help President Obama salvage what has become a difficult second term.

Podesta, who has been an outside adviser to Obama since leading his presidential transition after the 2008 election, will formally join his inner circle as White House counselor for a year, according to sources familiar with the move.

Podesta’s arrival comes at a critical juncture for Obama, as the president tries to regain credibility after the flawed rollout of the insurance marketplaces under his signature health-care law. Obama also has recruited Phil Schiliro, the legislative affairs director during the president’s first term and a veteran congressional operative, to return to the White House and spearhead health-care issues.

News of Podesta’s appointment was first reported by the New York Times on Monday evening. People familiar with the move confirmed that White House chief of staff Denis McDonough helped recruit Podesta and that Podesta’s portfolio would be broad and would include climate-change issues and executive actions, as well as the troubled health-care law.




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