Obama team announces more WH posts

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By Jon Ward

President-elect Barack Obama Saturday morning announced that Valeria Jarrett, a long-time family friend and close counselor with a long history in Chicago politics, will serve as a senior White House advisor when he takes office.

The Obama transition team also announced the choice of two other individuals for key positions.

Phil Schiliro, a long time congressional investigator for Rep. Henry Waxman, California Democrat, will serve in the Obama White House as the head of the White House legislative affairs office.

And Ron Klain, who has been at the center of battles over the Supreme Court for the last 20 years and served as chief of staff to Vice President Gore in the Clinton White House, will fill the same position for Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

These individuals will be essential members of our team, Mr. Obama said in a statement released by the transition office. I have the utmost confidence that their broad and diverse experience will serve my administration and the American people well.

Ms. Jarretts hiring, one day after her 52nd birthday, removes one of the top names that had been under speculation as a possible replacement to fill Mr. Obamas U.S. Senate seat, which he will vacate Sunday.

Top candidates for the seat from Illinois still include Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and double amputee who now serves as the secretary of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs; Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Illinois Democrat; Rep. Jan Schakowsky, also an Illinois Democrat.

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, a Democrat, will appoint a replacement to fill the rest of Mr. Obama's term, which expires in 2010.

Ms. Jarrett, a Michigan law school grad who grew up in Chicago, first came to know the Obama family through the president-elect's wife, Michelle, when she and Mr. Obama were engaged.

Ms. Jarrett, who at the time worked for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, hired Mrs. Obama to work for her in 1991. Ms. Jarrett eventually became a trusted aide to Mayor Richard Daley and then took Mrs. Obama with her to the city planning commission when she changed jobs.