Attorney General Eric Holder remains in President Barack Obama’s inner circle as the White House goes through its first staff shakeup, the Washington Post reported ^[1].

New White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley is attempting to mend relations with several agency heads, the Post said. However, Holder ’s relations with Obama are not frayed and he remains in the “top tier” as the first member of the president’s Cabinet was given a new administration assignment.

Obama has announced his intention to nominate Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the new Ambassador to China.  Holder’s standing in the administration no doubt has been helped by the departure of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago, reportedly clashed ^[2]with Holder over high-profile national security issues.