The Trail

Saturday, November 15, 2008

THE NEW WHITE HOUSE

President-Elect Names Jarrett Senior Adviser

President-elect Barack Obama has formally named Valerie Jarrett to be a senior adviser in the White House, a senior aide said Friday.

Jarrett, who has been a personal friend of Obama and his wife, Michelle, for years, was rumored as a potential choice to replace Obama in the Senate, but took her name out of contention this week. As a senior adviser, Jarrett may play a role for Obama similar to the one Karen Hughes took on for President Bush in his first term: providing political advice while keeping him connected to his roots.

Meanwhile, Obama continued to round out his transition team yesterday, announcing more than 100 officials who will lead the review of federal agencies.

The overall review process will be co-chaired by Melody Barnes, a senior domestic policy adviser to Obama's campaign and previously executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress; Lisa Brown, executive director of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and a former counsel to Vice President Al Gore; and Don Gips, a former chief domestic policy adviser to Gore and a group vice president of global corporate development at Level 3 Communications.

The working group teams are divided into the areas of economics and international trade; national security; justice and civil rights; energy and natural resources; education and labor; health and human services; science, technology, space and arts; executive office of the president; government operations; and transportation.

Transition chairman John Podesta said in a news conference this week that transition officials will begin work in most federal agencies on Monday.

A complete list of officials and their biographies is available on Obama's transition Web site, http://www.change.gov.

-- Michael D. Shear and Philip Rucker

IN NEBRASKA

1 Electoral Vote Goes to Obama

The 2008 election came one step closer to formal resolution yesterday, as President-elect Barack Obama won the final ballot count in Nebraska's 2nd District, centered in Omaha.

Nebraska is one of two states, along with Maine, that allocate electoral votes by congressional district, and the win gives Obama one of the state's five. The results will be declared official on Dec. 1.

Only the results in Missouri, with 11 electoral votes, remain outstanding. Sen. John McCain has a lead in the popular vote there, with a number of provisional ballots still to be counted.

-- Garance Franke-Ruta

CAMPAIGN ADVANCE MAN

Director of Inauguration Is Chosen

Barack Obama has plucked the director of advance for his campaign to run the Presidential Inaugural Committee, according to sources close to the planning operation.

Emmett Beliveau, Obama's choice for the committee's executive director, is a former lawyer at Patton Boggs and the son of Severin Beliveau, a prominent Maine lawyer and Democrat. The younger Beliveau, 31, is a graduate of Georgetown Law School and also worked on the campaigns of Al Gore and John F. Kerry.

-- Michael E. Ruane and Nikita Stewart