The White House dispatched top aides to Capitol Hill Friday afternoon to brief Senate Democratic chiefs of staff on President Barack Obama's upcoming State of the Union address. The meeting was led by Obama's new Legislative Affairs Director Katie Beirne Fallon, a former top staffer to Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, and Director of Communications Jennifer Palmieri. One source familiar with the gathering said it was light on the specifics of the president's speech. While similar spare-on-details meetings have stoked anger from Hill staff in the past, the frustration level this year was tampered by more congressional staff involvement in the lead-up to the address. (more…)
