White House Office of the Staff Secretary

The Staff Secretary ("Staff Sec") is a position in the White House Office responsible for managing paper flow to the President and circulating documents among senior staff for comment. The Staff Secretary is also responsible for determining when the flag is lowered to half mast.

Joani Walsh is the current Staff Secretary in the Administration of President Barack Obama, she was appointed to the position in early 2014. She previously served as an Assistant Staff Secretary earlier in the administration.

The Office of the Staff Secretary, along with its sub-offices—the Office of the Executive Clerk, the Office of Records Management, and the Office of Presidential Correspondence—is the largest of the White House Offices.

Function

The Office of the Staff Secretary has been referred to as "the nerve center of the White House."

Due to the high volume of important memos, meetings and decisions generated for the President's attention, the Staff Secretary is tasked with deciding which papers should go to the President's desk—and when the paper should be sent to him. These documents range from presidential decision memos and bills passed by Congress to drafts of speeches and samples of correspondence. The Staff Secretary relies on close coordination with Oval Office Operations and the Scheduling Office to decide when and how the President would like to receive documents.