Story highlights Four deputy White House counselors will help McGahn

The White House has hired 26 attorneys to serve in the counsel's office

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump announced Tuesday his team of White House lawyers is bulking up, establishing a larger footprint than the past two administrations had at this point.

The White House has hired 26 attorneys to serve in the counsel's office under Don McGahn, the Jones Day partner and longtime Trump campaign attorney. That's up from the 22-attorney team serving President Barack Obama at the start of his administration and just a dozen that started off in the early months of President George W. Bush's White House.

McGahn, who serves as White House counsel, assembled the team during the chaotic first weeks of the Trump administration, which has already tested the limits of presidential authority, skirted ethical lines and faced a hefty number of legal challenges.

Four deputy White House counselors will help McGahn oversee a team of 20 associate White House counselors and one senior counselor, according to a White House statement.

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McGahn's deputies include Greg Katsas, a fellow partner at Jones Day who argued before the US Supreme Court ; Makan Delrahim, a partner at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; John Eisenberg, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis; and Stefan Passantino, who chaired Dentons' political law team.

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