Federal Position Descriptions
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Cabinet Affairs

Cabinet Affairs, White House
Responsibility
Management Scope

The staff includes the cabinet secretary, the deputy cabinet secretary, three deputy directors and a special assistant.3 The size and scope of management varies from administration to administration. Currently there are about 10 employees in the office.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serves as liaison between the cabinet secretaries and the White House.
• Manages relationships with cabinet secretaries, ensuring their integration and input into White House decision-making, and their accountability for presidential initiatives.
• Mentors cabinet secretaries on cabinet duties.
• Assists the cabinet secretaries in preparing for a cabinet meeting by identifying issues of critical importance which are then discussed and developed with the deputy chief of staff for policy.
• Assists the cabinet secretaries in providing input to the four policy councils.
• Responsible for assisting relevant agencies and the administration when following up on a policy decision.
• Frequently serves as the president’s liaison with cabinet secretaries through the chief of staff.
• Prepares summaries for the president from the weekly cabinet reports and manages those reports.
• Monitors and coordinates the travel and schedules of cabinet secretaries, working with the Appointments and Scheduling Office.4

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements

• Confidence of the president

Competencies

• Ability to tease out from the Cabinet what problems are arising, not just what is going well

Past Appointments
  • Broderick Johnson (2014 to 2017) – Senior advisor to the Obama presidential campaign in 2012; Senior congressional affairs advisor to the Kerry campaign in 2004; Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Legislative Affairs5
  • Danielle Gray (2013 to 2014) – Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division; Associate Counsel to the President6
  • Chris Lu (2011 to 2013) – Executive Director of the Obama/Biden Transition Project; Legislative Director and Acting Chief of Staff for Senator Obama; Deputy Counsel to Representative Henry A. Waxman on the staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee7
AGENCY

Executive Office of the President

Mission: This office is the primary liaison between the president and his cabinet. The office coordinates communications, policy, and logistics between the White House and the cabinet, as well as manages issues that affect multiple federal agencies.1

COMPENSATION

$176,461 in 20162

REPORTS TO

Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

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Footnote
  1. https://www.whitehouse.gov/participate/internships/departments#Cabinet
  2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/tools/salaries
  3. https://www.whitehouse.gov/participate/internships/departments#Cabinet
  4. Romney Readiness Project position descriptions
  5. https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/broderick-johnson
  6. https://www.omm.com/professionals/danielle-carim-gray/
  7. Romney Readiness Project position descriptions
This position description was created with the help of Martha Kumar from the White House Transition Project, which provides information to a new White House staff about their individual offices thereby streamlining the process of transition from one administration to the next.
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