WH Officials Press for Personnel Changes

It’s not just Republicans calling for a restructuring of White House staff. Officials in the Obama administration themselves are calling for big changes,
Politico reports.

Adjustments being considered include replacing Political Director Patrick Gaspard (pictured) with a former top aide to Rahm Emanuel; replacing Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, who is expected to join Obama’s 2012 campaign, with Legislative Affairs Director Phil Schiliro; and giving White House energy czar Carol Browner bigger responsibilities.

The White House power base is too narrow, officials say. “If there’s still only five, 10 people making decisions, then we haven’t learned our lesson from Tuesday,” says an aide who believes the problem starts with Obama’s decision to delegate huge authority to senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod.