White House Counsel Bob Bauer Resigns; Top Deputy Will Replace Him
White House counsel Bob Bauer is resigning, but he will still be advising President Obama.
Bauer will return to private practice in June at Perkins Coie, where he will serve as general counsel for Obama’s re-election campaign and as the president’s personal lawyer, report the Associated Press and CNN.
Bauer will be replaced by his top deputy, Kathryn Ruemmler, who worked as a federal prosecutor for six years and then as a litigation partner at Latham & Watkins for two years. She is best known for her role as co-lead prosecutor of Enron’s former executives. Ruemmler is a Georgetown University law grad who was editor-in-chief of the law review, according to a press release posted by the CNN blog The 1600 Report.
Bauer was credited with helping gain passage of President Obama’s health care law by negotiating an executive order banning abortion funding. He became White House counsel in 2009 when he replaced Greg Craig, who had been criticized for failing to anticipate opposition to the closing of Guantanamo Bay.
