President-elect Joe Biden announced appointments to his White House team Tuesday, filling top positions with longtime aides and senior campaign staff.
Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, an early and vocal Biden campaign supporter, is leaving the Capitol to run the White House office of public engagement. Richmond’s team will work to connect with Americans about Biden administration initiatives, as well as the federal government’s role in their lives. Richmond was elected to Congress in 2010.
As is the case with White House chief of staff Ron Klain, several longtime Biden aides will be returning with Mr. Biden to the White House, this time to the Oval Office. Steve Ricchetti, Mr. Biden’s former chief of staff when he was vice president, will serve as counselor. Mike Donilon, who oversaw Mr. Biden’s campaign message, will be a senior adviser. And Annie Tomasini, who was often seen at Mr. Biden’s side during the campaign and even during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the director of Oval Office operations.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon and deputy campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez are joining the administration as deputy chief of staff and director of White House office of intergovernmental affairs, respectively.
Dana Remus, one of the four members of Mr. Biden’s vice presidential search committee, will serve as counselor to the president.
Mr. Biden’s transition team also announced two positions for Dr. Jill Biden’s team. Her chief of staff will be Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, a former ambassador to Uruguay and state department official during the Obama administration.
Anthony Bernal, one of the future first lady’s closest confidants, will serve as senior adviser. He, too, worked closely with the Bidens during the early days of the pandemic.
Campaign senior adviser Anita Dunn, credited by many with steering the campaign through its rockiest moments, is planning to head back to her private public relations job. She was President Obama’s chief strategist, and also served as White House communications director and was a senior adviser.
In a statement released by his transition team, the president-elect said of his new staff, “America faces great challenges, and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side a stronger, more united nation.”
