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WHITE HOUSE
Spokeswoman Dunn back to private sector
White House interim communications director Anita Dunn will step down from her post at the end of the month and Dan Pfeiffer, her deputy, will take over, officials said Tuesday.
The move comes about a month after Dunn attacked Fox News as "a wing of the Republican Party," sparking a fresh battle between the White House and the network. In response to the criticism, Fox News executive Michael Clemente said that President Obama's aides had decided to "declare war on a news organization."
A source inside the White House, who was not authorized to speak about strategy meetings, said at the time that Dunn went out front against Fox first and foremost because it was her job, but also because it potentially gave the administration the opportunity to distance itself from the flap, given that she was with the White House on only an interim basis.
Dunn, a longtime Democratic media consultant, will return to Squier Knapp Dunn, the consulting firm where she is a partner. She will continue to consult with the White House on communications and strategic matters.
Dunn came to the White House to fill in for Ellen Moran, who abruptly left the post to take a job at the Commerce Department, but she made clear when she took the job that the "interim" in her title was to be taken literally.
Pfeiffer began working for Obama in 2007 following a decision by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) not to pursue the presidency. He served a stint as the traveling press secretary for Obama's presidential bid but eventually took a slot overseeing the campaign's communications operation.
-- Chris Cillizza
ASTRONAUT AFFAIR
Nowak sentenced to year of probation
A former astronaut pleaded guilty to attacking a romantic rival after driving 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando and was sentenced to a year on probation.
