Title of political advisor to the US president
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.
White House senior advisors are senior members of the White House Office . The title has been formally used since 1993.
Over time, a senior advisor has had responsibility for the following groups:
White House departments (previously headed by a senior advisor in past administrations)
Prior administrations [ edit ]
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 [ edit ]
Senior advisors to Bill Clinton [ edit ]
Senior Advisor
Portfolio
Term of office
Party
Rahm Emanuel (born 1959)
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Policy
January 20, 1993 – November 7, 1998[ 1]
Democratic
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]
Senior advisors to George W. Bush [ edit ]
Senior Advisor
Portfolio
Term of office
Party
Karl Rove (born 1950)
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Communications
January 20, 2001 – August 31, 2007[ 6]
Republican
Barry Steven Jackson (born 1960)
Political Affairs Strategic Planning Communications
September 1, 2007 – January 20, 2009[ 7]
Senior advisors to Barack Obama [ edit ]
Senior Advisor
Portfolio
Term of office
Party
Valerie Jarrett (born 1956)
Public Engagement Intergovernmental Affairs
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017[ 8]
Democratic
Pete Rouse (born 1946)
Strategic Planning
January 20, 2009 – October 1, 2010[ 9]
David Axelrod (born 1955)
Political Affairs Communications
January 20, 2009 – January 10, 2011[ 10]
David Plouffe (born 1967)
Political Affairs Communications
January 10, 2011 – January 25, 2013[ 11]
Daniel Pfeiffer (born 1975)
Political Affairs Communications
January 25, 2013 – March 6, 2015[ 12]
Brian Deese (born 1978)
Climate and Energy[ 13]
February 13, 2015 – January 20, 2017[ 14]
Shailagh Murray (born 1965)
Communications
April 3, 2015 – January 20, 2017[ 15]
Senior advisors to Donald Trump [ edit ]
Senior advisors to Joe Biden [ edit ]
Senior Advisor
Portfolio
Term of office
Party
Cedric Richmond (born 1973)
Public Engagement [ b]
January 20, 2021 – May 18, 2022[ 31]
Democratic
Keisha Lance Bottoms (born 1970)
July 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023[ 32]
Julie Chávez Rodriguez (born 1978)
Intergovernmental Affairs [ c]
June 15, 2022 – May 16, 2023[ 33]
Neera Tanden (born 1970)
Health care Policy[ d]
United States Digital Service
May 17, 2021 – May 26, 2023[ 34]
Mitch Landrieu (born 1960)
Infrastructure Implementation Coordination
November 15, 2021 – January 8, 2024[ 35]
Mike Donilon (born 1958)
Chief Strategist
January 20, 2021 – January 23, 2024[ 36]
Anita Dunn (born 1958)
Communications
1st: Jan. 20 – August 12, 2021[ 37] 2nd: May 5, 2022 – July 31, 2024[ 38] [ 39]
Gene Sperling (born 1958)
COVID-19 Relief
(American Rescue Plan )
March 15, 2021 – August 2024[ 40]
John Podesta (born 1949)
Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation andInternational Climate Policy Advisor (effective January 31, 2024)
September 2, 2022 – January 20, 2025[ 41]
Stephen K. Benjamin (born 1969)
Public Engagement [ e]
April 1, 2023 – January 20, 2025[ 42]
Tom Perez (born 1961)
Intergovernmental Affairs [ f]
June 12, 2023 – January 20, 2025[ 43]
Annie Tomasini
Deputy Chief of Staff [ 44]
June 2023 – January 20, 2025
Ben LaBolt (born 1981)
Communications
August 8, 2024[ 45] – January 20, 2025
Karine Jean-Pierre (born 1974)
Press Secretary
October 7, 2024 – January 20, 2025
List of advisors to the president [ edit ]
^ 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,[ 47] [ 48] even though that was actually the title of her husband Jared Kushner , while her own title was 'Advisor to the President'.[ 49]
^ "City of Chicago :: About the Mayor" . Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2016 .
^ ABC News (September 18, 2014). "George's Biography" . ABC News . Archived from the original on October 10, 2019.
^ Matthews, Dylan (June 16, 2015). "Why Donald Trump brought up Sidney Blumenthal at the second debate" . Vox . Archived from the original on August 3, 2019.
^ Authorities, Leading. "Doug Sosnik" .
^ "Joel Johnson - Glover Park Group" .
^ Rove, Karl. "Bio" .
^ "Barry S. Jackson - American Australian Council" .
^ "Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett" . whitehouse.gov . December 24, 2014 – via National Archives .
^ Shear, Michael D. ; Zeleny, Jeff (October 1, 2010). "Emanuel's Departure Set; Replacement Is Longtime Aide" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on November 17, 2019.
^ Axelrod, David (February 10, 2015). "David Axelrod Recounts His Years As Obama's Adviser And 'Believer' " . NPR . Archived from the original on August 28, 2017.
^ "David Plouffe" . whitehouse.gov . August 17, 2011 – via National Archives .
^ Tau, Byron (December 10, 2015). "Former White House Adviser Dan Pfeiffer Joins GoFundMe" . The Wall Street Journal blogs .
^ Eilperin, Juliet (January 21, 2015). "Obama taps senior OMB aide Deese to succeed Podesta in environmental post" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .
^ "Brian Deese" . whitehouse.gov . November 16, 2011 – via National Archives .
^ "Senior Advisor Shailagh Murray" . whitehouse.gov . January 29, 2016 – via National Archives .
^ Trump, Donald J. (March 27, 2017). "Presidential Memorandum on The White House Office of American Innovation" . whitehouse.gov (Press release) – via National Archives . The Senior Advisor to the President.
^ "Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, #29" . whitehouse.gov . March 27, 2017 – via National Archives . The effort will be led by Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner.
^ Wagner, John; Parker, Ashley (January 9, 2017). "Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to join White House as senior adviser; no formal role for Ivanka Trump" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on January 10, 2017.
^ a b Ockerman, Emma (April 12, 2019). "Jared Kushner wasn't a Republican until 2018" . Vice News . Archived from the original on November 14, 2019.
^ Nussbaum, Matthew (December 13, 2016). "Trump taps campaign aide Stephen Miller as senior adviser" . Politico . Archived from the original on April 22, 2019.
^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Addition to White House Staff" . whitehouse.gov – via National Archives .
^ Smith, Ben (October 25, 2020). "Trump Had One Last Story to Sell. The Wall Street Journal Wouldn't Buy It" . The New York Times .
^ "Off the Rails: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency" . February 2, 2021.
^ "Former Trump impeachment lawyer heads to White House" . Politico . August 4, 2020.
^ "Elon Musk leaving DOGE, but he'll continue to advise Trump, White House says" . CBS News. May 29, 2025. Retrieved May 25, 2025 .
^ Cheney, Kyle (February 17, 2025). "Who's in charge of DOGE? Not Elon Musk, White House says" . Politico . Retrieved February 18, 2025 .
^ "Elon Musk working remotely for Doge" . The Telegraph. April 30, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025 .
^ Colton, Emma (April 30, 2025). "Elon Musk receives applause from Cabinet as he begins planned departure from DOGE role" . Fox News. Retrieved April 30, 2025 .
^ "Elon Musk officially leaves the White House" . NBC News. May 28, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2025 .
^ Swanson, Ian (December 1, 2024). "Tiffany Trump's father-in-law Massad Boulos to become senior presidential adviser on Arab affairs" . The Hill . Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 18, 2025 .
^ Glueck, Katie; Martin, Jonathan (November 18, 2020). "Representative Cedric Richmond Set to be a Senior Biden Adviser" . The New York Times .
^ "President Biden Announces Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as Senior Advisor for Public Engagement" . The White House . June 15, 2022.
^ "President Biden Announces Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as Senior Advisor for Public Engagement" . The White House . June 15, 2022.
^ Mason, Jeff (May 14, 2021). "Biden appoints Neera Tanden, former pick for budget director, as senior adviser" . Reuters .
^ "President Biden Announces Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator" . The White House . November 14, 2021.
^ Shear, Michael D. (November 18, 2020). "Mike Donilon, Who Helped Draft Biden's Message, is Named a Senior Adviser" . The New York Times .
^ "Anita Dunn to join Biden White House as senior adviser" . January 15, 2021.
^ "President Biden Announces Karine Jean-Pierre as White House Press Secretary" . May 5, 2022.
^ Scherer, Michael (July 30, 2024). "Biden adviser Anita Dunn leaving White House to help pro-Harris super PAC" . The Washington Post .
^ Tankersley, Jim (March 15, 2021). "Biden picks Gene Sperling, a Democratic policy aide, to oversee spending from the $1.9 trillion relief plan" . The New York Times . Retrieved September 13, 2024 .
^ "President Biden announces senior clean energy and climate team" . whitehouse.gov . September 2, 2022. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022 .
^ "President Biden Announces ormer Mayor Stephen Benjamin as Senior Advisor and Director of the Offic of Public Engagement" . whitehouse.gov . February 27, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023 .
^ "Statement from President Joe Biden on Tom Perez" . whitehouse.gov . June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023 .
^ Superville, Darlene (February 8, 2024). "Biden chooses longtime aide who runs his Oval Office to be a deputy White House chief of staff" . Associated Press . Retrieved February 8, 2024 .
^ Mike Allen (August 8, 2024). "Ben LaBolt, Biden communications director, promoted to senior adviser" . Axios .
^ "Stephanie Cutter - Former Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor" . whitehouse.gov . January 11, 2011 – via National Archives .
^ Laura Beck (September 14, 2017). "Ivanka Trump, Senior Advisor to the President, Says It's "Unrealistic" to Expect Her to Influence Him" . Cosmopolitan . Retrieved May 4, 2019 . Ivanka Trump, senior advisor to the president, said that it's "unrealistic" to expect her to influence his decisions. That's not her job, OK?! (Even though it sort of is, actually?)
^ Catherine Lucey (February 26, 2018). "Ivanka Trump's dual roles as senior adviser, first daughter" . AP news . Retrieved May 4, 2019 . Ivanka Trump expects to be treated seriously as a senior White House adviser. ... "You're either a senior adviser or a daughter. ..." ... "Especially since she was last in the news as a senior adviser going to the Olympics." ... "she did choose to play this senior advisory role.")
^ "Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders" . whitehouse.gov . December 18, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2019 – via National Archives . MS. SANDERS: ... the World Economic Forum ... delegation ... will also include ..., Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, ...
^ "Executive Office Of The President Annual Report To Congress On White House Office Personnel White House Office As Of: Friday, June 30, 2017" (PDF) . whitehouse.gov . p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2017 – via National Archives .
^ Merica, Dan; Borger, Gloria ; Acosta, Jim ; Klein, Betsy (March 30, 2017). "Ivanka Trump is making her White House job official" . CNN . Archived from the original on March 8, 2019.
^ Lucey, Catherine (February 26, 2018). "Ivanka Trump's dual roles as senior adviser, first daughter" . Associated Press . Archived from the original on March 14, 2018.
Executive Office
Advisory Boards (Council for Community Solutions , Corporation for National and Community Service , President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology , President's Intelligence Advisory Board , President's Management Advisory Board )
Council of Economic Advisers
Council on Environmental Quality
DOGE Service
Executive Residence (Committee for the Preservation of the White House , Office of the Curator , Office of the Chief Usher , Office of the Chief Floral Designer , Office of the Executive Chef , Graphics and Calligraphy Office )
National Space Council
National Security Council (Deputies Committee )
Homeland Security Council
Office of Administration (Office of Mail and Messenger Operations , Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer)
Office of Management and Budget (Office of the Chief Performance Officer , Office of E-Government and Information Technology , Office of Federal Financial Management , Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs )
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Office of Science and Technology Policy (Office of the Chief Technology Officer , National Science and Technology Council )
Office of the Trade Representative (Trade Representative )
Office of the Vice President (Chief of Staff )
White House Office
White House Chief of Staff
Senior Advisor
Office of Cabinet Affairs
Office of Communications (Office of Media Affairs, Office of Research, Office of the Press Secretary , Office of Speechwriting )
Counsel
Counselor to the President
Office of Digital Strategy
Domestic Policy Council (Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships , White House Faith Office , Office of National AIDS Policy , Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation , Rural Council )
Fellows
First Lady (Office of the Social Secretary )
Office of the National Security Advisor (Homeland Security Advisor )
Gun Violence Prevention
Intergovernmental Affairs
Legislative Affairs
Management and Administration (White House Operations, White House Personnel, Visitors Office )
National Economic Council
National Trade Council
Oval Office Operations (Personal Secretary )
Office of Political Affairs
Presidential Innovation Fellows
Presidential Personnel
Public Engagement (Council on Women and Girls , Jewish Liaison , Urban Affairs )
Scheduling and Advance
Staff Secretary (Executive Clerk , Presidential Correspondence , Office of Records Management)
Military Office (Communications Agency , Medical Unit , Presidential Food Service , Transportation Agency )