William Daley to be next White House chief of staff

President Obama is to name bank executive and former commerce secretary William Daley as the next White House chief of staff, an official has said.

Mr Daley will replace the interim chief of staff Pete Rouse, a senior administration official told the BBC.

Mr Rouse, who recommended Mr Daley for the position, will remain at the White House in a senior position as a counsellor to President Barack Obama.

Mr Obama is expected to make a formal announcement later on Thursday.

BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says the importance of the appointment is that Mr Daley, an executive with JPMorgan Chase, has close connections with financiers and those in big business, relationships which the president hopes to repair.

The news comes a day after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told his staff that he intends to leave his post by the end of February.

Mr Obama is reported to be considering numerous changes to his staff as he begins to prepare for the 2012 elections.

There is a new dynamic in the US Congress with Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives and increasing their numbers in the Senate and advisers say this necessitates a change of strategy.
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Mr Daley, 62, who served as commerce secretary in the Bill Clinton administration, is the brother of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, a heavyweight in Democratic politics.
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His friends contend [Mr Daley's] an operator, and perhaps he's gotten the job for that reason alone.”

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image of Mark Mardell Mark Mardell BBC North America editor

* Mardell: Obama eyes big business

Analysts say he offers Mr Obama a chance to provide an outsider's perspective to his administration as well as a great deal of experience in business.

The president discussed the position with Mr Daley at the White House on Wednesday.

The president then informed his senior advisers of the change in a meeting on Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Rouse has served as Mr Obama's chief of staff for the past three months since the departure of Rahm Emanuel, who left Washington to run for mayor of Chicago.

Mr Rouse has previously said that he did not want the position of chief of staff permanently.

Among other changes in the Obama administration, adviser David Axelrod will soon be leaving the White House as well as both of Mr Obama's deputy chiefs of staff, Jim Messina and Mona Sutphen.

Mr Obama will hold a news conference announcing the move at about 1430 local time (1930GMT).

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