Ellen Moran | 04/22/2009 8:05 am
Ellen Moran Leaving White House for Commerce Department
©AP
The Obama White House lost its first staffer this week when Communications Director Ellen Moran announced that she will leave to become chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Moran, who made the decision on Monday, but has yet to offer an official resignation letter, released the following statement: "It has been a real honor to serve in this White House at the start of this historic administration. I am looking forward to working on critical economic issues with Secretary Locke." In an interview with Politico, Moran described the move as a "perfect fit professionally and personally."
There are no hard feelings from President Barack Obama, who praised Moran’s skills and thanked her for getting his administration settled in its early months. "I thank Ellen Moran for her leadership during these first critical months of my administration, and I am pleased she will serve as chief of staff at the Department of Commerce." He continued, "Her management and strategic skills will ensure that Secretary Locke, an important member of my economic team, gets off to a fast start."
Though no longer working in the White House, Moran will likely keep close contact with the communication crew and, certainly, as Locke becomes more ingrained in the economic team.
Read more about: Barack Obama, Commerce Secretary, Ellen Moran, Gary Locke, News, Politics, White House
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7 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
The Communications Director position is fairly prestigious: for Ms. Moran to go to work for a peer, is in essence taking a step backward.
However, I thought a move to commerce might be more in line with her background, so I looked her up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Moran
Which makes this move to Commerce even more suspect. Her degree is in political science and English literature, her background is political, but specifically seemed to be around advertising and communications. Why take a step back, to move to a government division where neither your education or background were relevant?
I think we will need to wait this out, but I suspect that she is getting heat for some of the recent press Obama is getting (especially in the last month or so… the bloom is definately fading from the rose in the MSM).
Just doesn’t make any sense otherwise?
Is this the fault of the communications Director???
"White House officials have apologised after reporters trying to speak with Hillary Clinton were connected to a sex line. Instead of hearing the Secretary of State they heard a voice saying: ‘Do you have any hidden desires? If you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place’. Officials at the White House had been attempting to set up a conference call with Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones who were in London at the G20 Summit. Not amused:…
I love Hillary: too bad they did this to her. Here’s the full story (from AOL: NOT FOX).
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/04/03/white-house-invites-press-to-phone-sex-line-for-hillary-clinton/
It was picked up by all the tabloids in Britain: now there’s a way to get interest in the new administration!
I’m not sure if it would be the reason why she "stepped down": I would reckon it’s a combination of many things. We’ll have to see who he puts into that position next (no pun intended).