WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2009
Top White House Lawyer Carves A Big Role
Washington Post: D.C. Veteran Gregory Craig A Steady Legal Hand Guiding Young Administration Through Already-Choppy Water
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President Barack Obama talks with White House Counsel Gregory Craig, after Craig, and other White House staff members were sworn-in, Jan. 21, 2009, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
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In-Depth Obama's Cabinet The latest names and status of posts within Obama's new administration.
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After decades moving through the revolving door between the private sector and government service, Gregory B. Craig has landed again at the White House, serving as counsel to a young administration in need of a steadying hand.
Less than three weeks into his tenure, Craig has already played an outsize role in shaping the Obama administration. He safely guided the transition team through a scandal in which the governor of Illinois sought to auction off President Obama's old Senate seat. He produced the four executive orders that defined Obama's opening act in office -- overturning Bush-era rules on detention of enemy combatants and torture -- and has crafted or is in the process of drafting as many as 35 other such documents on Obama's behalf.
Now, amid a series of embarrassing personnel stumbles that have bogged down the administration's attempt to move swiftly to its legislative agenda, Craig is assuming control of the vetting process for nominees. That portfolio includes helping shepherd the next choice for secretary of health and human services, who will replace former senator Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) after his decision to step aside because of tax problems, and making sure the nomination of Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) as labor secretary does not fall victim to the same fate after tax liens against her husband's business were revealed yesterday.
But his most important role, White House officials say, is as a trusted voice who has lived through the extremes of Washington controversies and has a keen eye for a potential conflict of interest or a decision that might trigger public outcry.
Though he is the senior lawyer, Craig, 63, has brought a youthful vigor into the counsel's office, where he is building, he said in an interview in his office yesterday, "the greatest new law firm on the face of the planet." He has been spotted at least once darting around the West Wing on a weekend afternoon in white corduroys, a blue fleece and loafers -- straight from a Tommy Hilfiger catalogue, one aide recalled.
But Craig's mission is among the most weighty in the White House. In addition to thoroughly revamping the government's approach to national security and the handling of those captured in the fight against terrorism, he is leading the search for judges and prosecutors nationwide (including 17 court of appeals and 30 district court vacancies, and all U.S. attorneys), monitoring the closure of detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay and, in the days ahead, overseeing the vetting process.
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Senior White House Counsel
He is in the process of helping clarify the ethics rules that Obama issued to fulfill his campaign promise of a more transparent government, explaining gift bans and other policies to the new staff. (He even had a hand in winning a waiver for the famed presidential BlackBerry, though he said it was an issue he would not discuss.) One can express the hope and the aspiration that there'll be no more problems, but I've been around long enough to know there's no way that assurance can be made with confidence.
Gregory Craig,Senior White House Counsel
In the interview, Craig said he believes he will be in control of the vetting process by the time the next HHS secretary is chosen. He described Daschle's withdrawal as a "massive disappointment" and said in referring to the next nominee: "Obviously, this is a priority of this president, to get it right."
But Craig -- whose résumé extends from representing President Bill Clinton during his impeachment to the cases of the Cuban father of Elian Gonzalez and the would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr. -- stopped short of promising a drama-free administration.
"One can express the hope and the aspiration that there'll be no more problems, but I've been around long enough to know there's no way that assurance can be made with confidence," he said. "And actually, one of the excitements of this job, as well as the excitements of being a lawyer, is you're dealing with the unexpected all the time."
To that end, Craig is building a team of lawyers with prestigious backgrounds but a wide range of age and experience. "We're denying all allegations of empire-building," he said of his newly created counsel's office, responding to reports that it is bigger than those in the past and is stocked with aggressive partisans. "We're not a source of anything other than good lawyering."
By Washington Post Staff Writer Anne E. Kornblut. © 2009 The Washington Post. All rights reserved.
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Posted by sheiladog at 08:03 AM : Feb 06, 2009
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If Wikipedia is the leading reference tool in the world, why does it have more than 40,000 entries that may require cleanup? Wikipedia has tens of thousands of errors, and allows anyone to edit anything at any time %u2014 it%u2019s like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
I''d look elswhere for information.
The electorate voted for CHANGE but looks like the only change will be names only. The same names keep showing up again and again, going from one post to another, from one administration to the next. It appears to be a well organized ''old buddies club''!!!!
Posted by sheiladog at 08:13 AM : Feb 06, 2009
The present occupants would be idiots if they followed the same failed path and policies as the previous tenants...