WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden’s communications director, Jay Carney, was named the new White House press secretary today as part of a series of other big staff moves announced by new Chief of Staff Bill Daley.
Carney, a former Time magazine reporter, will succeed Robert Gibbs as the most visible spokesman for President Barack Obama. Other White House aides who have been considered for press secretary include Bill Burton, Stephanie Cutter, Josh Earnest and Jen Psaki. Several Democratic sources said that based on the private deliberations inside the White House, Carney was the clear front-runner for the job.
Other announcements included two new deputies for Daley: Alyssa Mastromonaco (deputy in charge of operations) and Nancy-Ann DeParle (deputy in charge of policy), replacing Messina and Mona Sutphen, who has been expected to leave for private life for some time.
As CNN has reported, top White House aide Rob Nabors was named the president’s chief liaison to Congress. A former top official in the Office of Management and Budget, Nabors was a senior adviser to then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
The president’s current congressional lobbyist, former congressional aide Phil Schiliro, had intended to leave at the end of 2010 but will stay on to help with the transition, Daley’s announcement said.
In another long-expected move, David Lane was named a counselor to Daley with a coveted “assistant to the president” title as well. Lane is a Daley favorite who served as his chief staff when Daley was commerce secretary. He recently stepped down as CEO of ONE, Bono’s group that fights poverty and preventable diseases around the world, to join the White House staff.
