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A Staff Shake-Up at the White House
Jan 25th 2013, 14:58

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to shake up his White House staff on Friday, installing a new team largely made up of familiar faces moved to different positions as he gears up for an intense push on sweeping legislation early in his second term.

Denis R. McDonough

Mr. Obama will name Denis R. McDonough, a longtime aide and currently the principal deputy national security adviser, as his new White House chief of staff and will shuffle around a series of other officials in the West Wing. The president plans to make the announcements in the East Room at 12:10 p.m., according to a White House official.

Moving up to deputy chief of staff will be Rob Nabors, currently the president's legislative affairs chief, and replacing Mr. McDonough at the National Security Council will be Tony Blinken, the national security adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director and another early Obama aide, will move up to senior adviser, replacing David Plouffe, who is departing this week.

Replacing Mr. Pfeiffer as communications chief will be his deputy, Jennifer Palmieri, a veteran of Bill Clinton's White House. Serving as deputy senior adviser for communications and strategy will be David Simas, a former White House aide who served as head of polling and focus-group research for the president's re-election campaign. Replacing Mr. Nabors running the legislative affairs office will be Miguel Rodriguez, a former aide to departing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and more recently Senate liaison for the Obama White House.

Lisa Monaco, currently the assistant attorney general for national security, will move over to the White House to replace John O. Brennan, the president's adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, who has been tapped to take over as director of the Central Intelligence Agency if confirmed by the Senate.

The White House announced separately Friday that Christopher P. Lu, one of Mr. Obama's early aides dating back to his Senate days, will be leaving as White House cabinet secretary, the liaison to the various government departments. Replacing him, according to a White House official will be Danielle Gray, the deputy director of the White House National Economic Council. Katy Kale will become the president's assistant for management and administration, moving up from deputy.

While most of the announcements were pending the noontime event, Mr. Obama did release a written statement praising Mr. Lu and his "dedication and tireless efforts." The president made clear that he does not accept Mr. Lu's departure, saying he has asked him to return in another capacity. "After he enjoys some time off, I hope he will consider those opportunities," Mr. Obama said.

In a separate move, the first lady's deputy communications director, Semonti Stephens, announced Thursday that she was leaving to move to San Francisco.

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