Danielle C. Gray
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Danielle Gray is the former
Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The office consists o ...
,
Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...
, and a Senior Advisor to U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. Previously, Gray served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and
Deputy Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) comprises the offices and list of federal agencies in the United States, agencies that support the work of the President of the United States, president at the center of governmen ...
for Economic Policy. Gray is currently executive vice president, policy and regulatory affairs at
UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American Multinational corporation, multinational for-profit company specializing in health insurance and health care services based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Selling insurance products under UnitedHealth ...
.


Early life

A native of
Riverhead, New York Riverhead is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...
, Danielle Gray graduated from
Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
and in 2003 from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
,''
Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...
''
"HLS alumni and faculty join ranks of new administration"
where she served as an editor of ''
Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...
'' and was voted by her classmates "most likely to be a Supreme Court justice."


Career

Danielle Gray worked as a
law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...
for Judge
Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...
on the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...
. She also worked as a law clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer on the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
. Gray worked on the policy and research staff of then State Senator
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's 2004 campaign for
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
. She was also an early member of U.S. Senator Obama's campaign for President, working as Deputy National Policy Director for the Obama for America Presidential Campaign in 2007-2008.


Obama administration

After assisting with President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's transition to office, Gray was appointed as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to the President in the
Office of White House Counsel The White House Counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Off ...
. There she provided legal advice on key domestic and economic policy issues facing the administration. She also worked on judicial nominations, including the confirmations of
Justice Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
and Justice Kagan. Gray later moved to the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
, where she served as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Division. In this role she focused on constitutional challenges to federal statutes, policies, and agency actions and helped guide the legal strategy of the
Obama Administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
. Gray is also recognized as one of the lawyers who helped pass and ensure that the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
was upheld. Gray returned to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
in early 2011 upon her appointment as Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. As Deputy to National Economic Council Director
Gene Sperling Eugene Benton Sperling (born December 24, 1958) is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to ...
, Gray oversaw and developed policies related to a range of economic issues facing the country. Gray remained in this role until January 2013, when she was appointed Assistant to the President and
Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...
, a position previously occupied by Chris Lu. Recognized as a "rising superstar in the Obama administration" and "an instrumental force in driving the president's second term agenda," longtime White House advisor Gene Sperling says, "Danielle is the rare brand of intellectual powerhouse, policy strategist and doer's doer that will put her on the short-list for cabinet level jobs for Democratic presidents for the next four decades ..That's a guarantee, not a prediction." ''Newsweek'' called her "the most powerful
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
staffer you've never heard of." Gray left her post as Cabinet Secretary in January 2014.


Post-Obama administration

Following her time in the Obama administration, she became a partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP. She later worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, where she was senior vice president, chief legal and administrative officer and corporate secretary, overseeing operations related to legal, audit, government affairs, compliance, external communications, marketing and community in engagement, before joining Walgreens in August 2021.


See also

*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2) Law clerks have assisted the justices of the United States Supreme Court in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Each justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. Mos ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Danielle C. 1970s births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women politicians American women lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Duke University alumni Executive Office of the President of the United States Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Obama administration personnel People from Riverhead (town), New York Women in Illinois politics