President- elect Joe Biden names 2 aides to legislative affairs team

Reema Dodin and Shuwanza Goff will serve as deputy directors of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

President-elect Joe Biden has named two longtime Capitol Hill aides to his legislative affairs team. Reema Dodin and Shuwanza Goff will serve as deputy directors of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

US President-elect Joe Biden during his meeting with speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and senate minority leader Chuck Schumer at his transition headquarters in the Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, US. (Reuters)

Dodin has been working on the transition team already, leading its legislative engagement with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She also serves as deputy chief of staff and floor director to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip in the senate.

Goff served as floor director for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. She helped craft the House Democrats’ legislative agenda.

Dodin and Goff join Louisa Terrell, who was recently named the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. About a dozen other senior White House staffers also have been announced by the president-elect.

The team will be tasked with turning Biden’s long list of campaign promises into legislative blueprints and ushering them through a closely divided House and Senate. The first and biggest concern is expected to be a major coronavirus aid and response package after Biden takes office in January.

Biden is also expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team’s planning.