White House counsel: All in the family

by Mark Silva

Here's a new variation on the Washington revolving door: Anita Dunn, the White Communications director, is leaving the White House. And Dunn's husband, Bob Bauer, is moving in as White House counsel.

It was one of Washington's worst-kept secrets that Greg Craig, President Barack Obama's chief counsel, was on his way out after helping the president set up office and pick and win confirmation of Obama's first appointment to the Supreme Court. Bauer's candidacy as a replacement wasn't much of a secret either.

Dunn's role at the White House was supposed to be on an interim basis from the start. As she leaves on Dec. 1, with deputy Dan Pfeiffer taking over her job, she says she will continue to serve as a consultant.

Dunn also had stirred quite a controversy recently as she stepped into the middle of the White House fight with the FOX News Channel in asserting that FOX is "an arm of the Republican Party'' and not really a news network in the traditional sense.

We'll be hearing more from her today, at an afternoon session of the Bloomberg Washington Summit which the Swamp has been watching. So tune in here later for an update.

Craig noted the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, as among the achievements that made him proud in the job. And Obama noted that today, in a statement issued about Craig's departure and Bauer's arrival.

"Because of Greg's leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values,'' the president sad.

Craig leaves his office on Jan. 3. Bauer, a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie with a deep resume in Democratic Party politics and policy, will arrive by the end of the year, the White House said today.

"Bob has served as a trusted counselor for many years to many elected officials and is known as a tough and widely respected advocate," Obama said in the statement issued today. "Bob is well-positioned to lead the Counsel's office as it addresses a wide variety of responsibilities, including managing the large amount of litigation the administration inherited, identifying judicial nominees for the federal courts, and assuring that White House officials continue to be held to the highest legal and ethical standards."

The Republican National Committee had a few statements of its own on all this today, noting that Bauer has served as counsel to the DNC, the DSCC and the DCCC, the party's Senate and congressional campaign committees.

"President Barack Obama has installed his personal and political attorney, Bob Bauer, as the Democratic Party's new lawyer, a move that gives Bauer unmatched power in Democratic legal circles and marks him as a top behind-the-scenes player in the president's inner circle,'' Kenneth Vogel noted in Politico, noting that Bauer "has reaped nearly $1.5 million in payments from Obama's presidential campaign and an earlier political group since Bauer started representing Obama in 2005." (

The pay isn't quite as good at the White House, but for this Washington power family, it will remain a one paycheck arrangement.