WASHINGTON, April 8, 2015 . White House Chief of Staff Denis McDorno and National Security Adviser Susan Rice met with Obama in the Oval President Ma.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is likely to appoint Denis McDonough as secretary of veterans affairs. If so, McDorno will face a tough time gaining the knowledge he needs for the job.
Dennis McDorno could become the second non-veterans leader of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to The Hill. The nomination was a surprise. There is speculation that Mr McDonnell is likely to be nominated because of his deep understanding of the complex bureaucracy, his hard work and his strong relationships with other officials during his time as Obama’s White House chief of staff.
But veterans service groups and unions worry that McDorno, 51, could get off to a slow start if he ends up in charge of what is considered one of the most difficult federal agencies to manage.
“He should be a very smart guy,” said Joe Chenelly, executive director of Amvets, a 250,000-member veterans advocacy group. Of course, he wouldn’t have succeeded in his position if he hadn’t been very clever. But how much can you see and learn over and over again? “
Mr. Chenelli said he did think Mr. McDorno needed to be knowledgeable to manage such a large department.
But the former President Barack Obama’s longest-serving White House chief of staff has jumped in to try to better understand the second-largest government agency and its operations. On the day Biden announced the news, McDorno called some veterans and left his cell phone number as a direct contact. A week later, he held a conference call with several of the largest veterans groups known as the Big Six.
But some left-wing media reported that many advocacy groups still want Biden to nominate the first woman or post-9/11 veteran to lead the agency. Mr. Chenelli said Mr. McDorno was such an unexpected choice that when Mr. Amvets prepared four different press releases for Mr. Biden’s eventual nominee, “there was no name on it.” “
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