White House staff

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Obama Chef Dies in Water Near Family's Summer Home
Medical Examiner Rules
on Obama Chef's Death
UPDATED

Medical Examiner Rules on Obama Chef's Death

Tafari Campbell was paddleboarding on Martha's Vineyard

(Newser) - The untimely death of the Obama family's personal chef was an accidental one, per a ruling announced Tuesday from the chief medical examiner of Massachusetts. Tafari Campbell, 45, drowned in late July in a Martha's Vineyard lake while paddleboarding near the Obama's summer home, and the AP reports...

Another Positive Test Worries White House Staff

Reports say attorney Jenna Ellis has coronavirus

(Newser) - Jenna Ellis, a lawyer on President Trump's election team, is not the most popular person in the White House right now. She's told associates that she's tested positive for the coronavirus, Axios reports. CNN also reports that she tested positive. It's not clear when she got...

After Tests at White House, 'We Had a Couple of Positives'

Aides won't discuss report on coronavirus results

(Newser) - The day after a crowd of people, many not wearing masks, sat close together at a signing ceremony at the White House, officials declined to discuss a report that staff members had tested positive for the coronavirus. "I don't comment on any health-related issues as it relates to...

Man Who Served 11 Presidents Dies of COVID

Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, 91, a butler, worked for Eisenhower through Obama

(Newser) - Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, who joined the White House staff in 1957 and served under 11 presidents, has died at 91. His family said the cause of death was COVID-19, CBS News reports. Dwight Eisenhower was president when Jerman was hired, and Barack Obama was president when he left in 2012....

White House Brings Back Spicer and Priebus in Unpaid Posts

Former aides are named to honorary posts on presidential commission

(Newser) - Two top White House aides who didn't survive President Trump's first year in office are returning, in an honorary way. Sean Spicer, Trump's first press secretary, and Reince Priebus, his first chief of staff, have been named to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. In...

White House Staff Skipping Correspondents' Dinner

They are 'standing in solidarity' with Trump

(Newser) - It's unlikely they're going to Samantha Bee's roast of President Trump instead, but a month after the president announced he would steer clear of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, White House staff members are following suit. "The staff is standing in solidarity with the president,...

Obama's Chief of Staff Bill Daley Resigns

Jack Lew will replace him

(Newser) - William Daley is ending his tumultuous tenure with the Obama administration, stepping down as chief of staff to make way for current budget director Jack Lew, White House sources tell the LA Times . Daley handed in his letter of resignation last week, and President Obama will announce the move this...

141 Staffers Make $100K at White House

...Not counting Obama

(Newser) - Budget crisis or not, it pays to work at the White House. Of the 454 employees who work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 141 bring home six-figure salaries, according to the annual report released by the White House. Twenty-one make the top salary of $172,200, reports the National Journal . They...

So Just Who Is This Bill Daley?
So Just Who Is
This Bill Daley?

So Just Who Is This Bill Daley?

Profiles: He's a 'bare-knuckles' whip-cracker—and a disappointment to liberals

(Newser) - William Daley has terms like "longtime Democratic operative," "former Clinton secretary of commerce" and "Chicago political scion" thrown about him, but the New York Times takes a closer look at President Obama's new right-hand guy. He's “a bare-knuckles administrator ... someone who not only makes the...

Obama Names William Daley Chief of Staff
Obama Names William Daley
Chief of Staff
UPDATED

Obama Names William Daley Chief of Staff

President makes it official

(Newser) - President Obama named veteran political manager William Daley to be his new chief of staff today, selecting a centrist with Wall Street ties to help navigate a newly divided Congress and a looming re-election. "Few Americans can boast the breadth of experience that Bill brings to this job,"...

Gibbs: I'm Stepping Down, Becoming Political Adviser

Press secretary will also hit the speech circuit

(Newser) - Robert Gibbs confirms that he's part of the long-rumored White House shakeup today, telling the New York Times that he'll leave the job in early February to become a political adviser. He's also looking to pick up a little loot on the speaking circuit. A successor is expected to be...

Obama Staffers Take It Off in Georgetown Bar

...and insist they weren't playing beer pong

(Newser) - What should we think after White House staffers Tommy Vietor and Jon Favreau were photographed shirtless hanging out with friends in a Georgetown bar last weekend? According to conservative bloggers, the pic exposes the Obama staff as a bunch of frat boys playing beer pong in the midst of a...

Party Crashers Make Desirée Rogers Look Bad
 Party Crashers Make 
 Desirée Rogers Look Bad 
TOO-SOCIAL SECRETARIES

Party Crashers Make Desirée Rogers Look Bad

Is White House social secretary to blame for Michaele and Tareq Salahi?

(Newser) - A week’s worth of finger-pointing over how Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed to crash a state dinner has now turned the spotlight on a controversial figure: White House social secretary Desirée Rogers. Unlike demure secretaries before her, the attention-grabbing Rogers “arrived in Washington this year to great...

Lobbying Rules Also Ensnare Do-Gooders

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s strict new rules on lobbying—aimed at stopping stereotypical DC weasels from cashing in—are also tripping up do-gooders, the Washington Post reports. Activists who work for non-profits and charities, many of whom registered as lobbyists for reasons of transparency and have a yen to work...

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