'Fever' Pitch
Back at the White House as a chief economic adviser to President Obama, Gene Sperling apparently has not been spending all his time dealing with the recovery.
According to published reports, Sperling, days after being named director of the National Economic Council, was at a D.C. event held by Rob Lowe promoting an E! network reality show about Washingtonians.
Sperling was a senior counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and worked in the White House in the Clinton administration. He succeeded Larry Summers as head of the White House council.
The policymaker does not appear to be a subject of the program, "Potomac Fever." The reports said the show, which was still in development, would chronicle a half-dozen young Washingtonians' career pursuits inside the Beltway. Lowe, who starred in "The West Wing" is the producer.
A story in The New York Times quoted "someone close to the show who, lacking authority to discuss it, did not want to be identified" as saying: "It's not the 'Real Housewives,' it's not 'The Hills,' it's not 'Laguna Beach.'… We're not dealing with socialites. We're not dealing with society people. We're dealing with people who are connected to politics."
Bigger Digs
Much is still unresolved about the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's absorption of the Office of Thrift Supervision, but at least officials know where the combined agency will reside.
The OCC recently told staff that both agencies will move to nearly 600,000 square feet of new office space in the L'Enfant Plaza area of Washington.
The relocation of the OCC's headquarters is planned for the fourth quarter of 2012.
"Over the past few years and with the pending transfer of employees from the Office of Thrift Supervision, we have outgrown our current space," Acting Comptroller John Walsh wrote in a Jan. 20 e-mail to employees.
The new agency headquarters will occupy about half of the building, which just underwent a $220 million renovation. Other regulatory agencies will fill the rest.
Walsh said the agency is planning to lease the space for up to 25 years.
The bank regulator will begin transferring current OTS employees into the new office building "as soon as possible," he said.
Still unclear is the fate of the current OTS building near the White House. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is now occupying a temporary location in an annex building of the Treasury Department, is said to covet the space.
CFPB Legal
The CFPB last week named its chief legal team for its Office of the General Counsel.
Len Kennedy, a former legal adviser at the Federal Communications Commission, will be the new bureau's general counsel. Former congressional aide Meredith Fuchs will serve as principal deputy general counsel.
Roberto Gonzalez, a White House counsel, and Treasury Department official Michael Gordon will be deputy general counsels.
Kennedy most recently was general counsel, corporate secretary and chief government affairs officer for Sprint Nextel Corp.
He previously spent five years as general counsel for Nextel and twice served as a senior legal adviser at the FCC.
"Len Kennedy brings exactly the right combination of broad experience and vision to ensure that the CFPB will be able to get to work right away on behalf of American families," said Elizabeth Warren, assistant to the president and special adviser to the secretary of the Treasury.
"The team we're building to lead the Office of General Counsel understands the economic pressures facing consumers across the country and is dedicated to leveling the playing field between lenders and families and bringing common-sense solutions to complex problems."
Fuchs previously was chief investigative counsel of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. She has also served as vice president and general counsel for the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Gonzalez was with the Office of White House Counsel as associate counsel and special assistant to the president.
At the Treasury, Gordon has been counselor to the general counsel. He has also held senior staff roles for multiple House committees, including as chief investigative counsel of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and senior investigative counsel of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
