Mr. Obama has opted against a dramatic announcement of a slate of new advisers, but added up, the changes could be significant. The latest came Friday, when he replaced his legislative director, Miguel Rodriguez, with Katie Beirne Fallon, an aide with ties to Senate Democratic leaders. That followed the recruitment of John D. Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s last chief of staff, and the return of Mr. Obama’s former adviser Phil Schiliro.
“You always need fresh horses, and yet at the same time the horses have to work as a team, so it’s not as easy as people think,” said Paul Begala, who was part of a similar infusion of personnel in Mr. Clinton’s second-term White House. “John, Katie, Phil, they all have fresh energy, and, importantly, they are known and respected and accepted by the folks who have been killing themselves for this president.”…
The legislative affairs office under Mr. Rodriguez has come in for sometimes withering criticism in Congress not just from Republicans but also from Democrats, who complain that they have inadequate contact with the White House. Mr. Rodriguez, an aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was in the Senate, joined the legislative affairs office in October 2011 and was promoted to director as the president was opening his second term, but he was not a well-known figure on Capitol Hill.
Some lawmakers complained that even after two years, they would not know him.
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