Cassandra Butts
Cassandra Butts | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | (1965-08-10)August 10, 1965 New York City, U.S. |
Died | May 25, 2016(2016-05-25) (aged 50) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
Cassandra Quin Butts (August 10, 1965 – May 25, 2016) was an American lawyer, policy expert, and Deputy White House Counsel. On December 23, 2008, Butts was selected by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as Deputy White House Counsel, focusing on domestic policy and ethics.[1] She was on the advisory board for then-President-elect Obama's presidential transition team.[2]
She stepped down as Deputy White House Counsel in November 2009 and served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Chief Executive Officer at the Millennium Challenge Corporation.[3] In February 2014, Obama nominated her to be the Ambassador to the Bahamas, but by February 1, 2015, the Senate had not confirmed her to the post.
She was re-nominated to the position on February 5, 2015 but died more than a year later as her nomination continued to face a hold by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.[4]
Biography
Butts was born on August 10, 1965, in Brooklyn, New York, and at age nine moved to Durham, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 1991 from Harvard Law School where she was a classmate of Barack Obama and the two became close friends.[5][6]
Butts' first job was as a counselor at the YMCA in Durham. From 1991-92, she worked as a fellow with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), a nonprofit organization advocating for access to quality healthcare for low-income people. After college she worked for a year as a researcher with the African News Service in Durham.[7]
She was an election observer in the 2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary election and counsel to Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA). She also did litigation and policy work for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc, and spent seven years working as a senior adviser to US Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri.[8] She became the Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy at the Center for American Progress.[9]
Deputy White House Counsel
During her time as Deputy White House Counsel, Butts focused most on judicial nominations.[10] Records later showed that in the days after Associate Justice David Souter announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court, Butts was in frequent contact with President Obama's eventual nominee to replace Souter, Sonia Sotomayor.[10]
Butts also had been rumored in February 2009 to be a candidate to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).[10][11]
Millennium Challenge Corporation
On November 6, 2009, Obama named Butts to serve as a senior advisor in the Office of the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.[12] Butts' departure was considered to be one of the highest-level departures up to that point from the office of the White House Counsel,[10] and it was followed one week later by the announcement of the departure of Butts' then-boss, White House Counsel Gregory Craig.[13]
Nomination to be Ambassador to the Bahamas
On February 7, 2014, Butts was nominated by President Obama to be United States Ambassador to the Bahamas. The Senate held a committee hearing on her nomination in May 2014, but took no action the rest of the year, and her nomination lapsed with the end of the 113th United States Congress.[14]
With the new Congress, Obama renominated her to the post on February 5, 2015. The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reported her nomination to the full U.S. Senate on May 21, 2015. However, Butts' nomination was blocked by several Republican senators. First, Senator Ted Cruz placed a blanket hold on all U.S. State Department nominees after he was upset with Obama for the Iran nuclear deal.[15] However, after Cruz lifted those holds, Senator Tom Cotton then stepped in and once again, to protest an issue unrelated to the specific nominees, blocked Butts' nomination and the nominations of ambassador nominees to Sweden and Norway after the Secret Service had leaked private information about a fellow member of Congress. Cotton later lifted his holds on the nominees to Sweden and Norway, but kept his hold on Butts' nomination.[15]
Butts told New York Times columnist Frank Bruni that she had visited Cotton about his objections to her nomination, and Cotton told her that because he knew that Obama and Butts were friends, blocking Butts was a way to "inflict special pain on the president," Bruni wrote.[15] According to Bruni's article, a spokeswoman for Cotton did not dispute Butts' account but did emphasize Cotton's respect for Butts and for her career.[15]
Butts died on May 25, 2016, still awaiting a Senate vote.[15] For several weeks after Butts' death, her nomination had remained pending before the U.S. Senate on its executive calendar. Obama formally withdrew her nomination on June 9, 2016.[16]
Death
Butts was found dead in her Washington, D.C. home by her sister on May 25, 2016. According to a statement from her family she had suffered from a brief illness.[14] Bruni wrote that she had suffered from acute leukemia and had not felt ill until just beforehand.[15]
References
- ^ "Obama appoints Cassandra Butts as Deputy White House Counsel". Think Progress. 2008-12-23. Archived from the original on 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
- ^ "Obama Names Transition Team". Retrieved 2008-11-06.
- ^ "Cassandra Q. Butts-Senior Advisor-Millennium Challenge Corporation". Archived from the original on 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
- ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. February 5, 2015 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Obama's campaign staff a work in progress". Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ "Obama names HLS alumni to transition team posts". Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ Cooper, Helene (2008-11-27). "The New Team - Cassandra Q. Butts". New York Times.
- ^ Slater, Dan (2008-11-06). "Black Lawyers Ready to Rise Alongside Obama". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ "Celebrating and Strengthening the Voting Rights Act". 2005-08-08. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ a b c d "Deputy White House Counsel to Leave for Anti-Poverty Job". The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
- ^ "Dems sketch Obama staff, Cabinet - Politico.com Print View". Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ "President Obama Taps Cassandra Butts to Serve as Senior Advisor at the Millennium Challenge Corporation". whitehouse.gov. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2009-11-14 – via National Archives.
- ^ Zeleny, Jeff, Jeff; Baker, Peter (November 14, 2009). "President's Top Lawyer to Step Down". New York Times. New York Times.
- ^ a b "Cassandra Q. Butts, Obama law school classmate and adviser, dies at 50". washingtonpost.com. May 28, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f "An Obama Nominee's Crushed Hopes". The New York Times. June 7, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ^ "Presidential Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. June 9, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016 – via National Archives.
External links
- https://cassandrabuttsartscholarship.org/
- Photo
- Frontline interview
- NPR Interview with Cassandra Butts
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Office | Name | Term | Office | Name | Term |
White House Chief of Staff | Rahm Emanuel | 2009–10 | National Security Advisor | James L. Jones | 2009–10 |
Pete Rouse | 2010–11 | Thomas E. Donilon | 2010–13 | ||
William M. Daley | 2011–12 | Susan Rice | 2013–17 | ||
Jack Lew | 2012–13 | Deputy National Security Advisor | Thomas E. Donilon | 2009–10 | |
Denis McDonough | 2013–17 | Denis McDonough | 2010–13 | ||
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | Mona Sutphen | 2009–11 | Antony Blinken | 2013–14 | |
Nancy-Ann DeParle | 2011–13 | Avril Haines | 2015–17 | ||
Rob Nabors | 2013–15 | Dep. National Security Advisor, Homeland Security | John O. Brennan | 2009–13 | |
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations | Jim Messina | 2009–11 | Lisa Monaco | 2013–17 | |
Alyssa Mastromonaco | 2011–14 | Dep. National Security Advisor, Iraq and Afghanistan | Douglas Lute† | 2009–13 | |
Anita Decker Breckenridge | 2014–17 | Dep. National Security Advisor, Strategic Comm. | Ben Rhodes | 2009–17 | |
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning | Mark B. Childress | 2012–14 | Dep. National Security Advisor, Chief of Staff | Mark Lippert | 2009 |
Kristie Canegallo | 2014–17 | Denis McDonough | 2009–10 | ||
Counselor to the President | Pete Rouse | 2011–13 | Brooke D. Anderson | 2011–12 | |
John Podesta | 2014–15 | White House Communications Director | Ellen Moran | 2009 | |
Senior Advisor to the President | David Axelrod | 2009–11 | Anita Dunn | 2009 | |
David Plouffe | 2011–13 | Daniel Pfeiffer | 2009–13 | ||
Daniel Pfeiffer | 2013–15 | Jennifer Palmieri | 2013–15 | ||
Shailagh Murray | 2015–17 | Jen Psaki | 2015–17 | ||
Senior Advisor to the President | Pete Rouse | 2009–10 | Deputy White House Communications Director | Jen Psaki | 2009–11 |
Brian Deese | 2015–17 | Jennifer Palmieri | 2011–14 | ||
Senior Advisor to the President and | Valerie Jarrett | 2009–17 | Amy Brundage | 2014–16 | |
Assistant to the President for | Liz Allen | 2016–17 | |||
Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs | White House Press Secretary | Robert Gibbs | 2009–11 | ||
Director, Public Engagement | Tina Tchen | 2009–11 | Jay Carney | 2011–13 | |
Jon Carson | 2011–13 | Josh Earnest | 2013–17 | ||
Paulette L. Aniskoff | 2013–17 | Deputy Press Secretary | Bill Burton | 2009–11 | |
Director, Intergovernmental Affairs | Cecilia Muñoz | 2009–12 | Josh Earnest | 2011–13 | |
David Agnew | 2012–14 | Eric Schultz | 2014–17 | ||
Jerry Abramson | 2014–17 | Director of Special Projects | Stephanie Cutter | 2010–11 | |
Director, National Economic Council | Lawrence Summers | 2009–10 | Director, Speechwriting | Jon Favreau | 2009–13 |
Gene Sperling | 2011–14 | Cody Keenan | 2013–17 | ||
Jeff Zients | 2014–17 | Director, Digital Strategy | Macon Phillips | 2009–13 | |
Chair, Council of Economic Advisers | Christina Romer | 2009–10 | Chief Digital Officer | Jason Goldman | 2015–17 |
Austan Goolsbee | 2010–13 | Director, Legislative Affairs | Phil Schiliro | 2009–11 | |
Jason Furman | 2013–17 | Rob Nabors | 2011–13 | ||
Chair, Economic Recovery Advisory Board | Paul Volcker | 2009–11 | Katie Beirne Fallon | 2013–16 | |
Chair, Council on Jobs and Competitiveness | Jeff Immelt | 2011–13 | Miguel Rodriguez | 2016 | |
Director, Domestic Policy Council | Melody Barnes | 2009–12 | Amy Rosenbaum | 2016–17 | |
Cecilia Muñoz | 2012–17 | Director, Political Affairs | Patrick Gaspard | 2009–11 | |
Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships | Joshua DuBois | 2009–13 | David Simas | 2011–16 | |
Melissa Rogers | 2013–17 | Director, Presidential Personnel | Nancy Hogan | 2009–13 | |
Director, Office of Health Reform | Nancy-Ann DeParle | 2009–11 | Johnathan D. McBride | 2013–14 | |
Director, Office of National AIDS Policy | Jeffrey Crowley | 2009–11 | Valerie E. Green | 2014–15 | |
Grant N. Colfax | 2011–13 | Rodin A. Mehrbani | 2016–17 | ||
Douglas M. Brooks | 2013–17 | White House Staff Secretary | Lisa Brown | 2009–11 | |
Director, Office of Urban Affairs | Adolfo Carrión Jr. | 2009–10 | Rajesh De | 2011–12 | |
Racquel S. Russell | 2010–14 | Douglas Kramer | 2012–13 | ||
Roy Austin Jr. | 2014–17 | Joani Walsh | 2014–17 | ||
Director, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy | Carol Browner | 2009–11 | Director, Management and Administration | Bradley J. Kiley | 2009–11 |
White House Counsel | Greg Craig | 2009–10 | Katy A. Kale | 2011–15 | |
Bob Bauer | 2010–11 | Maju Varghese | 2015–17 | ||
Kathryn Ruemmler | 2011–14 | Director, Scheduling and Advance | Alyssa Mastromonaco | 2009–11 | |
Neil Eggleston | 2014–17 | Danielle Crutchfield | 2011–14 | ||
White House Cabinet Secretary | Chris Lu | 2009–13 | Chase Cushman | 2014–17 | |
Danielle C. Gray | 2013–14 | Director, White House Information Technology | David Recordon | 2015–17 | |
Broderick D. Johnson | 2014–17 | Director, Office of Administration | Cameron Moody | 2009–11 | |
Personal Aide to the President | Reggie Love | 2009–11 | Beth Jones | 2011–15 | |
Brian Mosteller | 2011–12 | Cathy Solomon | 2015–17 | ||
Marvin D. Nicholson | 2012–17 | Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy | John Holdren | 2009–17 | |
Director, Oval Office Operations | Brian Mosteller | 2012–17 | Chief Technology Officer | Aneesh Chopra | 2009–12 |
Personal Secretary to the President | Katie Johnson | 2009–11 | Todd Park | 2012–14 | |
Anita Decker Breckenridge | 2011–14 | Megan Smith | 2014–17 | ||
Ferial Govashiri | 2014–17 | Director, Office of Management and Budget | Peter R. Orszag | 2009–10 | |
Chief of Staff to the First Lady | Jackie Norris | 2009 | Jack Lew | 2010–12 | |
Susan Sher | 2009–11 | Jeff Zients | 2012–13 | ||
Tina Tchen | 2011–17 | Sylvia Mathews Burwell | 2013–14 | ||
White House Social Secretary | Desirée Rogers | 2009–10 | Brian Deese | 2014 | |
Julianna Smoot | 2010–11 | Shaun Donovan | 2014–17 | ||
Jeremy Bernard | 2011–15 | Chief Information Officer | Vivek Kundra | 2009–11 | |
Deesha Dyer | 2015–17 | Steven VanRoekel | 2011–14 | ||
Chief of Staff to the Vice President | Ron Klain | 2009–11 | Tony Scott | 2015–17 | |
Bruce Reed | 2011–13 | United States Trade Representative | Ron Kirk | 2009–13 | |
Steve Ricchetti | 2013–17 | Michael Froman | 2013–17 | ||
White House Chief Usher | Stephen W. Rochon† | 2009–11 | Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy | Gil Kerlikowske | 2009–14 |
Angella Reid | 2011–17 | Michael Botticelli | 2014–17 | ||
Director, White House Military Office | George Mulligan | 2009–13 | Chair, Council on Environmental Quality | Nancy Sutley | 2009–14 |
Emmett Beliveau | 2013–15 | Michael Boots | 2014–15 | ||
Dabney Kern | 2016–17 | Christy Goldfuss | 2015–17 |