WH Chief of Staff Daley Loses Some Clout

Senior White House adviser Pete Rouse is taking over some of Chief of Staff Bill Daley’s duties. But officials say the move is not a rebuke to Daley, whose style has been criticized, The Washington Post reported.

The move has been in the works for weeks, a senior administration official told the Post, adding that Daley himself “asked Pete to take on an expanded operational and coordination role with the White House staff.”

“This is part of Bill’s effort to make the White House staff as effective and efficient as possible, and it stretches back many weeks,” the official told the Post. “It’s a move designed to improve internal communication and maximize performance.”

However, the former Commerce secretary recently drew fire for publicly criticizing congressional Democrats alongside Republicans. His habit of spending most of his days behind a closed office door has also been contrasted with that of predecessor Rahm Emanuel, who was known to work the hallways to keep track of what was going on, the Post reported.