Axelrod Moves Up His Departure From White House

President Obama's senior advisor David Axelrod is planning to move up his departure to sooner than originally planned, a senior White House official told Fox News on Monday, heading out in late January or early February.

The purpose is "to leave enough time to spend time with family before the next project begins," the official said.

As recently as Nov. 14, Axelrod told "Fox News Sunday" that he'd probably stay about six more months before leaving to work on the president's re-election bid.

Axelrod, who is responsible for White House speech-writing and messaging, will go just after the State of the Union address. As he leaves, for Obama campaign manager David Plouffe will transition in to the White House to reorganize the West Wing, which is likely to have several more post-midterm election departures.

Two other administration officials are also out the door.

White House National Economic Committee Deputy Director Diana Farrell and Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael Barr are leaving.

Farrell, the White House point person on financial issues, will go by the end of the year, a White House official said, noting she had always planned to stay two years.

She will likely return to the private sector after having Diana led administration efforts in trying to stabilize the financial system, restructuring the U.S. auto industry, responding to the housing crisis and developing the president's agenda on competitiveness and innovation.

In a statement she said she was proud of the administration's progress made "toward rebuilding trust in our financial system and moving our economy closer to recovery."

Her boss, Larry Summers, said Farrell was a "natural talent as a policy maker and her good judgment made her invaluable in setting a course for economic recovery."

Barr, who according to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was "a key architect" of the Wall Street  bill,  will return to his academic career at the University of Michigan and his family, which still lives in Ann Arbor.

"Our country is stronger, our financial system more stable, and our families better protected because of his work," Geithner said.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.