Obama Announces White House Staff Appointments

November 17, 2008 9:59 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Obama transition team announced new appointments to the president-elect and vice president-elect's White House staff over the weekend, including close aide Valerie Jarrett and Ron Klain, top aide to former Vice President Al Gore.

In a statement, the Obama transition team said transition co-chair Jarret will serve as senior advisor and assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. Jarret, one of the closest advisors of Obama and his wife Michelle, is a lawyer who worked as deputy chief of staff for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's during the mayor's second term.

Phil Schiliro will be Obama's assistant for Legislative Affairs. He currently serves as director of Congressional Relations for the transition team. His 25-year stint in Congress includes work as policy director for former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, and chief of staff to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and the House Oversight Committee.

Klain, the lawyer in charge of former Vice President Al Gore's recount efforts in the 2000 presidential election, will be Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff. He was chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Biden chaired the panel. Klain was associate counsel to former President Bill Clinton, leading the team that won confirmation for Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He was also domestic policy advisor of the first Clinton presidential campaign and chief of staff to former Attorney General Janet Reno.

The transition team said in another statement that Pete Rouse, chief of Obama's Senate staff, will serve as White House senior advisor. Two members of the transition team, Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina, have both been appointed as deputy chief of staff.

The announcement came as Obama's resignation as the freshman senator from Illinois took effect on Sunday. The president-elect announced two days after winnig the election that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), House Democratic Caucus chair, would be his White House chief of staff.