White House exits can be expected after election, and not just Rahm Emanuel, Gibbs says

It is too soon to know the details, but the Obama administration can expect a shift in personnel after the midterm elections, officials said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs acknowledged that changes were likely as the Obama administration reaches the halfway point of the president’s current term.

Precipitating some of the speculation is the future of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, whose dream job, mayor of Chicago, has suddenly become available. Mayor Richard Daley announced that he will skip another term, opening up a scramble among successors, including possibly Emanuel, a former Chicago congressman.

“Rahm may leave, the midterm elections are coming up, people are exhausted, it might be a natural time for some staff turnover. Should we expect that after the midterms?” Gibbs was asked on the presidential flight to Cleveland where Obama gave his economics speech.

Gibbs said he had no details, but added, “I do not think it is surprising that that is a time in which people who have given two years of service return to things that they were doing beforehand. I don’t doubt that that will happen in -- it will happen in this administration like it has in many of the previous.”

Gibbs also noted that for many Obama people, it was really four years, not just two, of service.

“For those that were on the campaign, this is sort of the end of year four, not necessarily the end of year two. So I think there’s no doubt that there will be people that return to their lives and their families and -- but we’ve got a while before that. We’ve got at least two months before this election -- or about two months before this election before we get to a lot of those decisions.”

As for Emanuel, he continued to do his usual duties.

“Our day ends with and begins with a meeting in Rahm’s office,” Gibbs said. “We had that meeting yesterday (after Daley announced he would not stand for reelection) and we were focused on a series of things that lie in front of us, and started it at 7:30 a.m. this morning with the same meeting.

“I think Rahm right now is focused on the enormous number of tasks that we have in front of us as an administration. I have no doubt that he’ll take some time to think about what he wants to do with his future, but I think his focus right now is on his job as chief of staff,” Gibbs said.

michael.muskal@latimes.com

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