Obama Sticks with Familiar Faces in Staff Shake Up

“As he heads into a second term with sweeping ambition in an era of gridlock, President Obama is assembling a new White House team that looks much like the old one, choosing familiarity over freshness even at the risk of insularity,” the New York Times reports.

“While aides played musical chairs, moving up and moving around to new positions, the overall continuity suggested that Mr. Obama felt no need to inject new energy into a team that brought him through re-election last year. Buffeted by one crisis after another, the president prefers to stick with the circle of advisers he has come to trust through four tumultuous years in office, wary of introducing new personalities after some unsuccessful experiments in his first term.”