White House Staff

Dana Power
Assistant to the President for Communications

Dennis Athey
Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Dan O'Sullivan
Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President

Mary Nemeth
Assistant to the President for Speechwriting and Policy Advisor

Ed Petzold
Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff

Drew O'Brien
Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary

Judith Kanheman
Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary

Karen Lawn
Assistant to the President and White House Counsel

Marcia Mandi
Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Colleen Ryan
Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady

Sonny Yocius
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary

Helen Doster
Deputy Assistant to the President for Communications

Eric Corbin
Deputy Assistant to the President, Assistant to the Vice President

Chris Varga
Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Matt Flaig
Assistant to the Vice President and Chief of Staff

Salvatore Lawless
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel

Brett Newbanks
Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy

Tom Wadsworth
Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison

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Sonny Yocius

Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff and Deputy Press Secretary

Sonny Yocius was born in 1962 in New York City, and earned an A.B. from Columbia University in 1984 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1987.

After graduating from law school, Yocius worked as an associate at a law firm until 1991. Yocius would also serve, in 1990, as a public member to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1993, Yocius became President Bill Clinton's associate director for domestic policy and deputy executive secretary to the Domestic Policy Council, and held the post for two years.

After leaving public service in 1996, Yocius became a partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm, and subsequently became general counsel for the Washington Offices of the CBC broadcasting media combine, before becoming general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget in 2009. Yocius was critical of some of the management practices involving the National Liberal Defense Fund, organized by O'Sullivan Consulting, and quarreled with O'Sullivan, and moved to the Office of the Press Secretary after serious disagreement over polling proceedures.

Office of the Press Secretary
Is responsible for carrying out the Communications of the Whitehouse in regards to the Press. While the Office of Communications establishes the tone and content of Communications, the Office of the Press Secretary actually carries out much of the day to day Communication on behalf of the Whitehouse. The Office of the Press Secretary is less about long-range policy and more about what we are going to say tomorrow.

Interview with Mike McCurry about the Office of Communications and the Press Secretary