Jan 27, 2011 2:34pm

President Obama Taps Jay Carney for Press Secretary, DeParle and Mastromonaco as Deputy Chiefs of Staff

President Obama has selected Jay Carney, current communications director for the Vice President, as Robert Gibbs' replacement as White House press secretary, sources tell ABC News.

The announcement, expected to be made public later this afternoon, will also include the appointment of two new deputy chiefs of staff: current head of the White House Office of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle and current White House director of Scheduling and Advance Alyssa Mastromonaco.

Other staffing changes include a role for Assistant to the President for Special Projects Stephanie Cutter as deputy to senior adviser David Plouffe and a senior staff role for David Lane, a longtime aide to chief of staff Bill Daley, on Daley's team. Rob Nabors, currently a senior adviser to the White House chief of staff, will become director of legislative affairs.

Current legislative affairs director Phil Schiliro was planning to leave the White House, but President Obama prevailed upon him to stick around for awhile and Schiliro agreed to serve as a Special Adviser, though it's unclear for how long.

DeParle will focus on policy, as did outgoing deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen. DeParle and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius helped shepherd the president's signature health care initiative. The former Rhodes scholar held prominent positions dealing with health care in the Clinton administration and during the Bush years was managing director of CCMP Capital and an adjunct professor at Wharton.

Mastromonaco's portfolio will be more political in nature, as was the focus of deputy chief of staff Jim Messina who is heading to Chicago to manage President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.

With Obama since joining his Senate staff in 2005 to head up scheduling and advance, Mastromonaco was political director of Obama's political action committee "Hopefund" and served as a top adviser on his 2008 campaign. In 2004 she served as scheduler for the ill-fated presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Carney reported for Time Magazine from 1993 until 2008, based in places such as Moscow and working his way up to Washington, DC, bureau chief in 2008. He covered President Bush and in 2003 was awarded the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the presidency. He started his career at the Miami Herald.  He is married to ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman.

Vice President Biden aggressively advocated for Carney to get the job and advised the president, sources say, that it was helpful to have a spokesman who has independent relationships with reporters.

-Jake Tapper

 NOTE: This post was last updated at 5:50 pm ET

User Comments

USNEWS: ‘Obama’s State of the Union Was Tantamount to Plagiarism’…
ABC silent
Obama VS America

Posted by: Yep I said that | January 27, 2011, 2:36 pm 2:36 pm

Social Security now seen to run permanent deficits…
Obama VS America

Posted by: Yep I said that | January 27, 2011, 2:37 pm 2:37 pm

Congress to Probe Obamacare Waivers…
Waiver list tops 700…
Obama VS America

Posted by: Yep I said that | January 27, 2011, 2:39 pm 2:39 pm

Staff changes or more “Culture of Corruption” in this regime

Posted by: Yep I said that | January 27, 2011, 2:44 pm 2:44 pm

Is the Commander in Chief retiring to spend more time with his family?
That’s the staff change I want to see.

Posted by: Joe White | January 27, 2011, 3:02 pm 3:02 pm

Wow.
Jay Carney was assigned to cover John McCain for the last presidential election. He famously complained on the national news that McCain was cranky and had changed, and also led the charge against Sarah Palin’s hesitancy to give outlets such as his an interview.
So this is his reward.
If his appointment to this position doesn’t cause the media to examine the way it does things, I don’t know what will.

Posted by: MayBee | January 27, 2011, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm

If it is true there are cabinet members that Barry has never met one-on-one with what does that tell us about his claims to always be interested in hearing good ideas? For answers we turn to Joe Wilson…

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | January 27, 2011, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm

Well,then I am sure that Jay will be able to answer this question,for I and millions of others are curious: Does President Obama have a Hawaiian birth certificate and if he does why won’t he release it like that womanizer McCain did?”

Posted by: Nephron | January 27, 2011, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm

Perhaps it’s information overload, but when I saw “Jay Carney”, I read “Jim Carey”. It took a second for me to realize that we would not have yet another comedian in Washington.

Posted by: misterbee | January 27, 2011, 3:25 pm 3:25 pm

The executive branch just continues to grow, and grow, and grow.

Posted by: Rick McDaniel | January 27, 2011, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm

“Vice President Biden aggressively advocated for Carney to get the job and advised the president, sources say, that it was helpful to have a spokesman who has independent relationships with reporters.”
For some reason, I find it funny yet VERYYYYYY appropriate that a member of the press is at last OFFICIALLY speaking on behalf of this White House rather then pretending they are not.

Posted by: Chris | January 27, 2011, 3:27 pm 3:27 pm

i don’t know,it seems more like the “Divine Comedy” every day.

Posted by: Nephron | January 27, 2011, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm

Carney is the TIME reporter who covered the McCain Palin camp (doing daily hit pieces). Then was hired by the Obama admin.
LOL! Like George Steph. Backwards.

Posted by: Jeff | January 27, 2011, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm

Wow. The transcript of Jay Carney’s interview with John McCain got deleted by the censors. I recommend people search for it. You’ll see why Carney was rewarded by Obama.

Posted by: MayBee | January 27, 2011, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm

MayBee John was cranky and did change. I noticed it as I used to like him until that deal. Palin did avoid the press. I’m not really understanding your point. Like this wasn’t all true?

Posted by: secondlook | January 27, 2011, 4:11 pm 4:11 pm

What a sham. TIME gives CARNEY a job to destroy one candidate, and he gets to be the opponent’s Press Secretary.
And the corrupt liberal media is silent. Chirp Chirp.

Posted by: Jeff | January 27, 2011, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm

Tony Snow told that Linda Tripp to tell Monica to keep that dress for proof. Because of this the right began a witch hunt that probably helped lead to 9/11 since while the terrorists were plotting we were demonizing a President. So what it your point republicans? Are you going to try to suddenly paint this position as something never used as a reward?

Posted by: secondlook | January 27, 2011, 4:14 pm 4:14 pm

If you read the interview, secondlook, you’ll see why McCain had every reason to be cranky. Let’s see someone ask Jay Carney similar questions about Obama on his first day behind the podium.
Of course presidents use the press secretary position to reward someone for a job well done. The problem here is the “job well done” was a hatchet job on Obama’s opponent while posing as a neutral reporter.

Posted by: MayBee | January 27, 2011, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm

As the press secretary is the mouthpiece for the president, only a fool would reward someone with the position.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | January 27, 2011, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm

Sad, sad, still crying out for birth certificates while not advising us on issues that really matter such as employment,economy and etc

Posted by: pana | January 27, 2011, 4:44 pm 4:44 pm

Why is the media ignoring the 500 Obamacare waivers?? I dont get it!!??

Posted by: Shawn | January 27, 2011, 4:47 pm 4:47 pm

As gibbs showed so well, any FOOL can serve as “You Lie!” hussein’s CHIEF PROPAGANDIST. Lying is easy, for the lunatic-left – they’ve had so very much practice.
Carney seems awfully white – I guess he’s just another one of “You Lie!” hussein’s misrepresentations.

Posted by: TeaPartyPatriot | January 27, 2011, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm

DeParle made $8 million as a lobbyist in 2008, but don’t expect ABC News to tell us that. Oh, and Claire Shipman sleeping with the press secretary, who used to be a supposed unbias White House correspondent.
ABC News is starting to make MSNBC looke balanced. Remember when the media demanded Maria Shriver quit reporting because Arnold was a republican governor? I guess that doesn’t apply to democrats.
Truly, ABC News is getting so left-wing extreme, you have to wonder when they are going to start making up Bush National Guard forms.

Posted by: Karen | January 27, 2011, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm

Shawn | Jan 27, 2011 4:47:48 PM
Now don’t take this the wrong way and get angry, but I think the number of waivers from ObamaCare is approaching 750.

Posted by: misterbee | January 27, 2011, 5:27 pm 5:27 pm

Forty percent of the employees exempted from Obamacare to this point are in unions, although only 14% of American workers are unionized.
“Yesterday, the Deparment of Health and Human Services announced it had granted more than 500 new waivers to Obamacare’s requirement that health plans have annual limits of no less than $750,000. This annual limit requirement climbs to $1.25 million next year and then to $2 million.
“The reason these exemptions from the law are needed is that Obamacare forces all health insurance consumers to over-insure themselves and pay high premiums as a result. Without the waivers, many companies, non-profits and unions would simply drop their health plans.”
Remember: if you want to buy a policy with a lower annual limit, and pay lower premiums, you can’t. The government won’t let you.

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | January 27, 2011, 9:21 pm 9:21 pm

FROM NEWBUSTERS
Claire Shipman’s Husband Named New Obama Press Secretary; Conflict of Interest for ABC?
By: Scott Whitlock | January 27, 2011 | 17:46
The White House on Thursday named Jay Carney, the husband of ABC News reporter Claire Shipman, to be the new White House Press secretary. Carney is also an ex-journalist, formally of Time magazine.
Will this appointment prove to be a conflict of interest for Shipman? Will she continue to report on the Obama administration? Shipman whose title is senior national correspondent, often covers political stories and has a reputation as an activist liberal. In 2008, she hailed Barack Obama, the now-boss of her husband, as “brave” for a speech disassociating himself with radical preacher Jeremiah Wright. In 2007, she fawned over Obama’s “fluid poetry.”
In 2000, she lauded Al Gore as a “pretty conservative Democrat.” In 2004, discussing former Communist leader Mikhail Gorbachev, she ltouted him as “generally regarded” for being “the man who broke down the ‘Iron Curtain.’”
C

Posted by: pauldia | January 27, 2011, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm

Stanford Econ. Prof. John B. Taylor on Obama’s failed economic policies:
“The one-time stimulus payments to people did not jump-start consumption. The stimulus grants to states did not increase infrastructure spending. Cash for clunkers merely shifted consumption a few months forward. The Fed’s purchases did not have a material impact on mortgage interest rates once changes in risks are taken into account. At best these actions had a small temporary effect that dissipated quickly, leaving a legacy of higher debt, a bloated Fed balance sheet and uncertainty—all of which slow growth and job creation.”

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | January 27, 2011, 9:48 pm 9:48 pm

Jay Carney is an excellent choice. Looking forward to the sessions with him as White House press secretary.

Posted by: DaveM | January 27, 2011, 10:26 pm 10:26 pm

Economist Robert Samuelson:
“It was a teachable moment – and Barack Obama didn’t teach. Unless public opinion changes, we won’t end our budget deadlock. As is well-known, Americans want budget deficits curbed. In a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 54 percent urge Congress and the president to “act quickly” and 57 percent prefer spending cuts to tax increases. But there’s little support for cuts in Social Security (64 percent opposed), Medicare (56 percent) and Medicaid (47 percent), which together approach half of federal spending. The State of the Union gave Obama the opportunity to confront the contradictions and educate Americans in the unpleasant realities of uncontrolled government. He declined.”

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | January 27, 2011, 10:39 pm 10:39 pm

I agree Carney is a fine choice. Good man.

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | January 27, 2011, 10:39 pm 10:39 pm

Fascist Hyena wrote:”Forty percent of the employees exempted from Obamacare to this point are in unions, although only 14% of American workers are unionized.”
.
Keeping the UNIONS financially solvent is the DEMOCRATS highest priority. Its their bread and butter when it comes to campaign donations. Without the UNIONS they are toast.

Posted by: gk | January 28, 2011, 10:42 am 10:42 am

Very glad to see that Obama has chosen Jay Carney to run this post.

Posted by: Jason Coe | January 28, 2011, 11:01 am 11:01 am

It will be interesting to see how the new Press Secretary frames Obama’s lies, so as to make them easier for the main stream media to laud. It is going to be tough to polish Obama’s road apple policies into something other than total failures, hurtful to ordinary folks.

Posted by: Ed Grund | January 28, 2011, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm

We are headed for economic armageddon,, if this worst president ever get’s second chance to spen us into the stoe age in 2012. Hilarious that he wants to freeze spending at $1.5 Trillion annual deficit. What a charlatan and socialist idealogue.

Posted by: Impeach Obama | January 28, 2011, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm

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