SCOTT SIMON, host:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
President Obama filled some key job openings at the White House this week. Two veterans of the Clinton administration are stepping in as chief of staff and head of the president's economic policy team, and soon Mr. Obama will have to fill a vacancy in the White House press room. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on what one insider calls a pretty major retooling, as President Obama prepares for the second half of his term.
SCOTT HORSLEY: President Obama plans to keep his foot on the economic gas pedal this year, trying to rev up a still sputtering job creation machine. Riding shotgun in that effort will be Gene Sperling, Mr. Obama's choice to replace Larry Summers as director of his economic policy team.
President BARACK OBAMA: He's a public servant who has devoted his life to making this economy work and making it work specifically for middle-class families. Now, one of the reasons I selected Gene is he's done this before.
HORSLEY: Sperling held the same position in the Clinton administration when he worked with a Republican Congress to help balance the federal budget. Clinton-era colleague Laura Tyson thinks that experience will be valuable in the Obama White House as the president turns his attention to controlling runaway deficits.
Ms. LAURA TYSON: Certainly in this next two years, the focus of economic policy is going to be on the federal budget.
HORSLEY: President Obama tapped another Chicagoan this week to fill the chief of staff job that Rahm Emanuel gave up to run for mayor of that city. William Daley is an investment banker who served as commerce secretary under President Clinton.
President. OBAMA: He's led major corporations, he possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy.
HORSLEY: Daley's also a board member for The Third Way think-tank in Washington, which advocates centrist policies on the economy and national security. Third Way President Jonathan Cowan calls Daley a good choice at an important pivot point for the president.
Mr. JONATHAN COWAN (President, The Third Way): Bringing in someone who is a tremendous manager, who has a private sector background and is a true moderate Democrat is exactly the trifecta that will enable them to position themselves best for 2012 and get big things done in the next two years.
HORSLEY: Daley's appointment is one of a number of recent moves by the president seen as outreach to the business community. After last month's trade deal with South Korea, the administration moved this week to ease trade tensions with Mexico, with a first step towards lifting a U.S. ban on Mexican trucks.
The president also agreed to speak next month at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has fiercely criticized many of his policies. Cowan says none of this is an accident.
Mr. COWAN: What you're seeing in the last two months is the administration make some very strong moves towards the middle. The administration understands that they are going to need to work across the aisle and that reelection ultimately runs through recharging the economy and winning back the center of the electorate that Democrats lost in 2010.
HORSLEY: Other personnel changes are in the works. David Plouffe, who managed the president's 2008 campaign, starts work at the White House on Monday. Ultimately he'll take the place of political advisor David Axelrod, who's leaving soon to prepare for the 2012 reelection bid.
And White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced this week he'll be stepping down in February to become a paid advisor to the reelection campaign. After working for Mr. Obama for almost seven years, Gibbs said, it's time to take a break.
Mr. ROBERT GIBBS (White House Press Secretary): Obviously this was not an easy decision but I think this is a very natural time period to make the decision to recharge a little bit.
HORSLEY: No new spokesman has been named yet. Gibbs predicts all the newcomers will bring a somewhat different look and style to the White House, given new personalities, new demands and a new political environment in the capital.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.