White House Appoints Housing and Urban Policy Advisor

The White House formally announced the appointment of Erika Poethig as Special Assistant to the President for Housing and Urban Policy at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council (DPC).

The backdrop. The DPC of the United States is the principal forum used by the president for considering domestic policy matters. Domestic policy staff have existed in the White House since the 1960s. President Lyndon B. Johnson assigned a senior-level aide to organize staff and develop domestic policy. In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon issued an executive order that created the Office of Policy Development, a large White House office with jurisdiction over economic and domestic policy. President William J. Clinton split the office, forming the current Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council.

What caught our eye. Ms. Poethig has deep housing policy experience and is extremely qualified to advise the President on affordable housing issues. Before joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Ms. Poethig was Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President for the Research to Action Lab at the Urban Institute. And during the Obama-Biden Administration, Poethig served a number of roles including Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy Development and Research at HUD and was a leading architect of the White House Council for Strong Cities, Strong Communities.

She also was the associate director for housing in the program on Human and Community Development at the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the United States. In this role, she focused on regional policy and practice, housing policy and research, and on the $150 million special initiative for the preservation of affordable housing.