Carney To Be Named White House Press Secretary

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Jay Carney, our former TIME colleague and the communications director for Vice President Joe Biden, will be named the new White House press secretary, according to Administration officials White House chief of staff Bill Daley.

Carney joined Biden’s staff in 2008 after 20 years at TIME, including a stint as Washington Bureau Chief. The Swampland alum will be a familiar face for our readers and a key part of President Obama’s staff shake-up, which includes the elevation of Nancy-Ann DeParle and Alyssa Mastromonaco to the role of deputy chiefs of staff. The trio of announcements is expected tomorrow.

Carney brings to his new post a healthy respect for the difficulties of the job. (See comments at about the eight-minute mark.)

Update: The full memo from Daley, just released by the White House, follows after the jump. (As my colleague David Von Drehle points out, Emmett Beliveau — who is undoubtedly taking on an important new role — may want to petition for a less clunky new title.)

Today, I am pleased to announce a number of important White House personnel decisions.  I believe these decisions will bring greater clarity to our structure and roles and will enhance coordination and collaboration among us. I am excited about these changes and I look forward to working with all of you – those in existing roles as well as those filling new roles – in the weeks and months ahead.  We have a great team.

I want to thank Pete Rouse for his counsel and leadership in this effort. My mission is to get the most out of the great talent that President Obama has brought to the White House so that we can all help him effectively serve and lead the American people.

Below are the names and titles of those assuming new roles:

•          Ron Bloom, Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy (National Economic Council)

•          Jay Carney, Assistant to the President and Press Secretary

•          Stephanie Cutter, Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor

•          Nancy-Ann DeParle, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

•          David Lane, Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Chief of Staff

•          Alyssa Mastromonaco, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations

•          Rob Nabors, Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs

•          Emmett Beliveau, Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Chief of Staff

•          Jon Carson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement

•          Danielle Crutchfield, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Scheduling and Advance

•          David Cusack, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance

•          Mike Strautmanis, Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor for Strategic Engagement to the Senior Advisor

•          Jessica Wright, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Scheduling

•          Brian Deese, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council

Some of you may have heard that Phil Schiliro’s intention was to leave the White House at the end of the last Congress.  Phil has made extraordinary contributions to the President’s success, and I’ve asked him to slow his departure in order to lend his wise counsel and guidance in the transition period ahead.

I am looking forward to collaborating with all of you.  Effective collaboration requires a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, so that we can hold each other accountable for the duties we’ve each undertaken.  In coming days, I hope to clarify further the roles each of our offices needs to play, so we can continue to work together in the highly productive way the that we must.

I want to thank each of you for your hard work and for your commitment to serving the President and American people.  We’ve got a lot of important work ahead of us.

-Bill