Obama picks long-time aide as new deputy chief of staff

President Obama’s new deputy chief of staff will be long-serving aide Anita Breckenridge, the White House said Tuesday.

Breckenridge has been associated with Obama since 2003, most recently as his personal assistant.

“She has impeccable judgment, extraordinary foresight and the battle-tested resolve to help lead this White House for the next three years,” said White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.

The 35-year-old Breckenridge will replaces outgoing Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco.

“Nobody works harder for President Obama,” McDonough said. “Alyssa has served at the president’s side for the past 10 years, and her leadership can be felt in all corners of the White House.”

Breckenridge and Obama met 11 years ago at an event in Illinois when he was a state senator and she was a political operative.

She went on to oversee his regional offices in the southern part of Illinois. Obama later hired Breckenridge to work on his presidential campaign, which included helping with his announcement in 2007 in Springfield, Ill., that he would seek the White House.

Breckenridge served as chief of staff at the National Endowment for the Arts from January 2009 until May 2011, when Obama asked her to work in the White House.

Among her new duties will be helping select Cabinet secretaries and senior administration officials, helping find candidates for boards and commissions and overseeing the political nominating process.