Embattled White House chief of staff Bill Daley has handed off some day-to-day responsibilities to presidential confidant Pete Rouse after coming under fire from West Wing officials for his management style and ineffectual relationship with Congress, according to administration sources.



He's one step away from the knackers:

The Wall Street Journal has more:

On the congressional front, one big problem has been a tense relationship between Mr. Daley and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), which soured during the budget negotiations this year, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Daley angered Democrats by trying to cut side budget deals with Republicans. He stoked the tension recently by telling a columnist for the website Politico that "both Democrats and Republicans" have made it difficult for Mr. Obama to govern. Mr. Reid was livid, and Mr. Daley had to call to smooth things over. "When I make a mistake or he thinks I've made a mistake, we talk," Mr. Daley said. His efforts to build bridges to House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) didn't fare much better. Mr. Boehner had barely heard from the White House during the first two years of the administration. Mr. Daley organized a dinner with him. It was their one and only such outing. Tensions grew this summer as Messrs. Obama and Boehner tried to strike a grand bargain on reducing the federal deficit, with both sides accusing the other of not negotiating in good faith. The limits of Mr. Daley's relationship with Mr. Boehner spilled into view in September, when the chief of staff thought he had secured a date for Mr. Obama to address a joint session of Congress. Mr. Boehner publicly rejected the White House's request, which conflicted with a GOP presidential-primary debate. Mr. Obama vented to his staff, asking how they didn't foresee that outcome.

Now if you have been reading my blog, you know that I've been hammering the performance of the White House Staff all year long, finally culminating in calling on Daley to resign just after the smog regulations fiasco. His performance has only gotten worse since then. (See here, here, and here.) His ridiculous and embarrassing interview with Politico was so atrocious I couldn't write about. The disgust I felt would have led to some rather choice Brooklynese.

Bill Daley is well on his way to being noted as the worst Chief of Staff since Sam Skinner. But why the long drawn-out firing? Just let the guy go now before he does something even more embarrassing? It is time to stop wasting money keeping him around, Mr. President. Liaison to Congress? That's Rob Nabors' job and if Harry Reid is to be believed he's probably better at it. Pete Rouse will certainly be better at it.