White House Staffing, Staffing | featured news

Roger Ailes, the longtime Republican media guru, founder of Fox News and its current chairman, had some advice last year for then-Gen. David H. Petraeus. So in spring 2011, Ailes asked a Fox News analyst headed to Afghanistan to pass on his thoughts to Petraeus, who was then the commander of U.S. and coalition forces there. Petraeus, Ailes advised, should turn down an expected offer from President Obama to become CIA director and accept nothing less than the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military post. If Obama did not offer the Joint Chiefs post, Petraeus should resign from the military and run for president, Ailes suggested.

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, center point of our latest political distraction, will not be nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. While the current grandstanding serves the political interests of the Obama white house, when the time comes to submit an actual nomination, the name submitted will be John Kerry.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, expressed doubts on Wednesday over the Obama administration's handling of the attack in Libya, further clouding Susan E. Rice's prospects as secretary of state.

After Mary Miller, a senior Treasury Department official, removed her name from consideration, Sallie L. Krawcheck, a long-time Wall Street executive, has emerged as a potential front-runner to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tim Geithner may soon leave the Treasury Department, but he is helping lead the "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

The ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, said Tuesday that she incorrectly described the attack on the American mission in Libya but said she based her statement on the available intelligence.

Mary L. Schapiro, who overhauled the Securities and Exchange Commission after the financial crisis, announced on Monday that she was stepping down as chairwoman of the agency. Elisse B. Walter, a commissioner at the S.E.C., is expected to be named to take over the post.

The top Republican leading the fight against Susan Rice as the new secretary of State softened his opposition and said Sunday he was open to hearing her explain why she declared the burning of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was part of a protest rather than a terrorist

Two senior administration officials say the White House chief of staff, William Daley, is resigning. He's being replaced by Jacob Lew, the budget director....

A key player in implementing President Obama's health care law is stepping down in the face of Republican opposition. Don Berwick, the head of Medicare and Medicaid, was a recess appointment made by Obama after Senate Republicans had vowed to vote down his nomination.