Part of the Executive Office of the President of the U.S.
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House chief of staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President.[1] The staff work for and report directly to the president, including West Wing staff and the president's closest advisers. Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be removed at the discretion of the president.
The staff of the various offices are based in the West Wing and East Wing of the White House, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and the New Executive Office Building. Senior staff have the title Assistant to the President, second-level staff have the title Deputy Assistant to the President, and third-level staff have the title Special Assistant to the President.[2] These aides oversee the political and policy interests of the president.
History
The White House Office was established in the Executive Office of the President by Reorganization Plan 1 of 1939 and Executive Order 8248 to provide assistance to the president in the performance of activities incident to his immediate office. The White House Office is organized in accordance with the wishes of each incumbent president and is directed by staff chosen by the president. A staff authorization was initially established in 1978 (92 Stat. 2445). Some presidential boards, committees, and commissions function organizationally as subunits of the White House Office.[3]
Although still a subunit of the EOP, the White House Office remains the center of the presidential staff system. In many ways it is closest to the president both in physical proximity, its top aides occupy most of the offices in the West Wing, and in its impact on the day-to-day operations, deliberations, policy agendas, and public communications of a presidency. During the transition to office and continuing throughout an administration, the president enjoys a great deal of discretion in terms of how the White House Office is organized.[1]
Mission
The issues that confront the United States at any one time cannot be dealt with by the president alone, and therefore he (or she) draws on the expertise of others in the administration and even within an administration as one chief of staff may differ from a predecessor or successor.
While chiefs of staff may differ in the degree of policy advice they provide a president, they are the managers of the White House staff system. At least in theory, they are the coordinators bringing the pieces together; they are the tone-setters and disciplinarians making for good organizational order, and often act as the gatekeeper for the president, overseeing every person, document and communication that goes to the president.[1]
