Brian Beutler November 8, 2011, 1:10 PM

Congressional Democrats weren’t surprised Tuesday to learn, in a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley had handed a big chunk of his portfolio over to senior adviser — and former acting Chief of Staff — Pete Rouse. Indeed, they’ve been living under the new regime for several weeks, and according to one highly placed Senate Democratic aide the improvement has been self evident.

What was reported Tuesday night, the aide said, was the “formalization of an arrangement that’s been in place for a couple months.”

According to the aide, Daley no longer serves as a firewall between Rouse and President Obama — Rouse and Director of Legislative Affairs Rob Nabors now have a direct line.

Hill Democrats had an icy relationship with Daley from his early days at the White House, but things really came to a head in early September, when, aides say, Daley botched the scheduling of Obama’s joint address to Congress — hastily issuing a request without adequately consulting Republican and Democratic leaders.

“The turning point was Daley screwing up the scheduling of the speech,” the senior aide said.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) rebuffed the request, which coincided with a scheduled GOP presidential primary debate on cable news, and invited Obama to address Congress the next day.

Since then, the aide says, the White House and Congressional leadership have been coordinating much more effectively, which has allowed them to orchestrate an effective push for Obama’s jobs bill, and crystallize for voters the GOP’s role in obstructing legislation to promote economic growth.

“I think you can see the results.”

American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Bill Daley, Democrats, Economy, Harry Reid, Jobs, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Rouse, Rob Nabors, White House, William Daley