Obama Cabinet and Key White House Staff
Melody Barnes - Director, Domestic Policy Council
(Member of National Economic Council)
Former Senior Domestic Policy Advisor, Obama campaign
Former Executive Vice President of Policy, Center for American Progress
Former Chief Council, Senator Edward Kennedy, Senate Judiciary Committee
Former Director of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Appointed: November 24, 2008
Obama’s comments:
“I am pleased that Melody Barnes, one of the most respected policy experts in America, will be serving as Director of my Domestic Policy Council—and that she will be working hand-in-hand with my economic policy team to chart a course to economic recovery. An integral part of that course will be health care reform—and she will work closely with my Secretary of Health and Human Services on that issue.
“As Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, Melody directed a network of policy experts dedicated to finding solutions for struggling middle class families. She also served as Chief Counsel to the great Senator Ted Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, working on issues ranging from crime to immigration to bankruptcy, and fighting tirelessly to protect civil rights, women's rights and religious freedom.
“Melody’s brilliant legal mind—and her long experience working to secure the liberties on which this nation was founded and secure opportunity for those left behind—make her a perfect fit for DPC Director.”
Others’ comments:
“Barnes has a history of strong ties to progressive causes. She was chief counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1995 to 2003, working with the liberal standard bearer on civil rights and women’s health legislation. Before that, she helped craft the 1992 Voting Rights Improvement Act while assistant counsel to a House voting rights subcommittee.
“In 2004, Barnes made her mark at the Center for American Progress by creating a program called the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, which seeks to identify the moral and ethical underpinnings in policy and develop progressive stands around them. She also founded the Women’s Health and Rights Program, which works on reproductive health and poverty issues.
“As vice president of policy, Barnes went on to oversee all the center’s policy programs, including those related to poverty, the environment, energy and national security. Sally Steenland, a former colleague of Barnes at the center, described Barnes’ time overseeing these policy projects as a “perfect warm-up and dress rehearsal for what she will do at the White House.”
“Steenland explained that Barnes’ ability to give all these wide-ranging projects adequate attention is a skill that will be critical at the White House, where she will have to juggle many policy priorities.”
—The Washington Independent
“Catholic League president Bill Donohue registers his concerns over President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to select Melody Barnes as Director of Domestic Policy Council:
“‘The left-wing Nation hails Barnes as a ‘dyed-in-the-wool progressive,’ and the even more radical Daily Kos calls her ‘an unabashed progressive.’ Barnes herself touts her role promoting a ‘common good’ approach to values issues, explaining that it is synonymous with ‘a progressive approach to governing.’ Her forte is working with the religious left, a skill she honed at the Center for American Progress.’”
—CatholicLeague.net
Approved: Appointment did not require Senate approval.
Appointment Impact:
“Those who have worked with Barnes say it’s unlikely that she will go into the White House with pet projects in mind. “She sees the connection between all the issues,” said Jessica Arons, director of the Center for American Progress’ Women’s Health and Rights Program, founded by Barnes. “All of those in some ways become one priority.”
“David Sirota has been a member of the angry progressive chorus complaining about Obama’s Cabinet appointments. But when asked in an interview about the president-elect’s recent White House picks, he conceded that Barnes will be a strong progressive voice in the Obama administration.
“Even so, he’s not convinced that these appointments carry the same heft as Cabinet jobs. Sirota contends that the White House responsibilities are more like selling policies than developing and implementing them.”
—The Washington Independent
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