Obama team taps three for key positions

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By Jon Ward

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday morning said that Valerie Jarrett, a longtime family friend and close counselor with a long history in Chicago politics, will serve as a senior White House adviser.

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

Phil Schiliro, a longtime congressional investigator for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, will serve in the Obama administration 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 past 20 years and served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House, will fill the same position for Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Mr. Biden spent the day Saturday in Nevada visiting his son, Joseph "Beau" Biden, a captain in the Delaware National Guard who is scheduled to deploy for Iraq soon.

Mr. Obama spent the day with his family in Chicago.

An interview with Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, was previewed by the CBS News program "60 Minutes."

"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."

Mrs. Jarrett's 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. Obama's 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 L. Jackson Jr., Illinois Democrat; and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, also an Illinois Democrat.