Senior Advisor to the President of the United States
Title of political advisor to the United States president
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Senior Advisor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States. Senior advisors to the president do not have formal government decision making authority, but they can have significant influence over decisions. Their role is to provide strategic advice, analysis, and recommendations to the president on key issues.
| Senior Advisor to the President | |
|---|---|
| |
| Executive Office of the President White House Office | |
| Reports to | President of the United States |
| Appointer | President of the United States |
| Formation | January 20, 1993 |
| First holder | Rahm Emanuel |
| Website | The White House |
White House senior advisors are senior members of the White House Office. The title has been formally used since 1993.
Responsibilities
Over time, a senior advisor has had responsibility for the following groups:
White House departments (previously headed by a senior advisor in past administrations)
- American Rescue Plan / COVID-19 Relief
- Office of American Innovation
- White House Office on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation
- White House Office of Infrastructure Implementation Coordination
- White House Office of Communications
- White House Office of Strategic Initiatives
- White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- White House Office of Political Affairs
- White House Office of Public Engagement
- White House Office of the Staff Secretary
Prior administrations
In prior administrations before 1993, the position of "senior advisor" was a title used for various other purposes. Numerous examples of the position also exist throughout the executive departments and in the branch's independent agencies. For example, the Food and Drug Administration includes a position with the title Senior Advisor for Science; the Department of the Interior has a position with the title Senior Advisor for Alaskan Affairs.
Examples of people who had the responsibilities and/or influence of a senior advisor without the title included Edward M. House (to Woodrow Wilson) and Louis Howe (to Franklin D. Roosevelt)
List of senior advisors to the president
| Name | Portfolio | Start | End | Party | President(s) | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
Rahm Emanuel (born 1959) |
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Policy |
January 20, 1993 | November 7, 1998 | Democratic | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) |
[1] | ||
 |
George Stephanopoulos (born 1961) |
Strategic Planning Policy |
June 7, 1993 | December 10, 1996 | [2] | ||||
 |
Sidney Blumenthal (born 1948) |
Political Affairs Communications Policy |
August 19, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | [3] | ||||
 |
Doug Sosnik (born 1959) |
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Policy |
November 7, 1998 | January 20, 2001 | [4] | ||||
|
Joel Johnson (born 1961) |
Communications Policy |
May 20, 1999 | January 20, 2001 | [5] | ||||
 |
Karl Rove (born 1950) |
Political Affairs Strategic Initiatives Communications |
January 20, 2001 | August 31, 2007 | Republican | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
[6] | ||
 |
Barry Jackson (born 1960) |
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Communications |
September 1, 2007 | January 20, 2009 | [7] | ||||
 |
David Axelrod (born 1955) |
Political Affairs Communications |
January 20, 2009 | January 10, 2011 | Democratic | Barack Obama (2009–2017) |
[8] | ||
 |
Valerie Jarrett (born 1956) |
Public Engagement Intergovernmental Affairs |
January 20, 2009 | January 20, 2017 | [9] | ||||
 |
Pete Rouse (born 1946) |
Strategic Planning | January 20, 2009 | October 1, 2010 | [10] | ||||
 |
David Plouffe (born 1967) |
Political Affairs Communications |
January 10, 2011 | January 25, 2013 | [11] | ||||
 |
Stephanie Cutter (born 1968) |
Message and Communications | January 27, 2011 | September 2011 | [n 1][12] | ||||
 |
Daniel Pfeiffer (born 1975) |
Political Affairs Communications |
January 25, 2013 | March 6, 2015 | [13] | ||||
 |
Brian Deese (born 1978) |
Climate and Energy | February 13, 2015 | January 20, 2017 | [14][15] | ||||
 |
Shailagh Murray (born 1965) |
Communications | April 3, 2015 | January 20, 2017 | [16] | ||||
 |
Jared Kushner (born 1981) |
Strategic Planning American Innovation |
January 20, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | Republican | Donald Trump (2017–2021) |
[17][18][19][20] | ||
 |
Stephen Miller (born 1985) |
Policy Speechwriting |
January 20, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | [21] | ||||
.jpg) |
Ivanka Trump (born 1981) |
Women's Issues Workforce Development Entrepreneurship |
March 29, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | [n 2][25][26][27] | ||||
 |
Kevin Hassett (born 1962) |
Economic Issues | April 15, 2020 | July 1, 2020 | [28] | ||||
.jpg) |
Eric Herschmann (born 1962) |
Opposition research Legal issues |
August 3, 2020 | January 20, 2021 | [29][30][31] | ||||
 |
Mike Donilon (born 1958) |
Chief Strategist | January 20, 2021 | January 23, 2024 | Democratic | Joe Biden (2021–2025) |
[32] | ||
 |
Anita Dunn (born 1958) |
Communications | January 20, 2021 | August 12, 2021 | [33] | ||||
| May 5, 2022 | July 31, 2024 | [34][35] | |||||||
 |
Cedric Richmond (born 1973) |
Public Engagement[a] | January 20, 2021 | May 18, 2022 | [36] | ||||
_(cropped).jpg) |
Gene Sperling (born 1958) |
COVID-19 Relief American Rescue Plan |
March 15, 2021 | August 2024 | [37] | ||||
.jpg) |
Neera Tanden (born 1970) |
Healthcare Policy United States Digital Service |
May 17, 2021 | May 26, 2023 | [b][38] | ||||
.jpg) |
Mitch Landrieu (born 1960) |
Infrastructure Implementation Coordination | November 15, 2021 | January 8, 2024 | [39] | ||||
.jpg) |
Julie Chávez Rodriguez (born 1978) |
Intergovernmental Affairs[c] | June 15, 2022 | May 16, 2023 | [40] | ||||
 |
Keisha Lance Bottoms (born 1970) |
Public Engagement[a] | July 1, 2022 | March 31, 2023 | [41] | ||||
.jpg) |
John Podesta (born 1949) |
Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation International Climate Policy Advisor |
September 2, 2022 | January 20, 2025 | [42] | ||||
.jpg) |
Steve Benjamin (born 1969) |
Public Engagement[a] | April 1, 2023 | January 20, 2025 | [43] | ||||
 |
Tom Perez (born 1961) |
Intergovernmental Affairs[c] | June 12, 2023 | January 20, 2025 | [44] | ||||
.jpg) |
Annie Tomasini | White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations | June 2023 | January 20, 2025 | [45] | ||||
 |
Ben LaBolt (born 1981) |
Communications | August 8, 2024 | January 20, 2025 | [46] | ||||
.jpg) |
Karine Jean-Pierre (born 1974) |
Press Secretary | October 7, 2024 | January 20, 2025 | |||||
 |
Massad Boulos (born 1971) |
Arab, Middle Eastern, and African Affairs | January 20, 2025 | present | Republican | Donald Trump (2025–present) |
[47] | ||
.jpg) |
Elon Musk (born 1971) |
Government Efficiency | January 20, 2025 | May 30, 2025 | Independent | [48][49][d] | |||
See also
Notes
- Concurrently served as the Director of the Office of Public Engagement
- Concurrently served as White House Staff Secretary
- Concurrently served as the Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
Explanatory footnotes
- Stephanie Cutter held the official title of "Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor" during her time in office.
- President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump was sometimes called a 'Senior Advisor to the President' (or sometimes a 'senior advisor to the President', without the upper case 'S' and 'A') by unofficial sources,[22][23] even though that was actually the title of her husband Jared Kushner, while her own title was 'Advisor to the President'.[24]