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Biden names ex-Facebook executive amid latest list of White House hires

Senior staff hires all have links to Barack Obama’s administration

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Friday 20 November 2020 19:23 GMT
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Joe Biden has chosen a former Facebook executive to be in charge of getting his agenda through Congress.

Louisa Terrell is also a veteran of Barack Obama’s administration and Mr Biden’s Senate office and will take the position of his director of legislative affairs.

Ms Terrell was also Senator Cory Booker’s chief of staff as well as holding the role of senior director for federal policy and strategy at Yahoo! and director of public policy at Facebook.

Her selection was one of four announcements of senior staff positions within the Biden administration, most of whom have previous links to Mr Biden and Barack Obama.

The president-elect has chosen Cathy Russell as the director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, which recruits for the 4,000 jobs the administration must fill.

Ms Russell was chief of staff to Dr Jill Biden during the first term of Mr Obama’s administration.

She is also a long-time advisor to Democrats on women’s issues.

Carlos Elizondo, who spent eight years in the Obama administration, was named the White House social secretary.

He will be responsible for planning and coordinating events such as state dinners, and was Mr Biden’s social secretary during his vice presidency and will be the first Hispanic American and second man to hold the job.

Dr Biden named Mala Adiga, a senior policy advisor on the 2020 campaign, as her own policy director.

Ms Adiga is a former deputy assistant secretary of state and also used to work for the Biden Foundation as director for higher education and military families.

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