Anne Filipic is a Democratic political operative who became the White House Director of Management and Administration at the beginning of the Biden Administration in early 2021. She has worked in several other positions for Democratic politicians and Democratic-aligned organizations, including the Obama Administration, the Democratic National Committee, the Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign, and Enroll America. ¹

During March 2021 the Daily Beast reported that “dozens of young White House staffers,” newly hired by the incoming Biden Administration, had been “suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use.” Filipic was identified by the affected individuals as the White House official who led the calls informing them of the revocation of their job status. The Daily Beast wrote that the staffers claimed to have been “informally told by transition officials that some past marijuana use would be overlooked, only to be told later that they were being asked to resign.” ²

Background

Anne Filipic is a Democratic political operative. As of March 2021, she was the White House Director of Management and Administration for the Biden administration. ³

She was previously the program officer and chief operating officer at the Obama Foundation, and was also formerly the president of Enroll America, a coalition formed to promote enrollment in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) insurance plans. During the Obama administration, she served as Deputy Director of Public Engagement at the White House, and Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also formerly served as Deputy Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee and on President Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign. ⁴

Filipic married Carlos Monje in 2011. Monje has been a special assistant to President Barack Obama, a chief of staff of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and a director of public policy and philanthropy for Twitter. ^{5 6}

Controversies

Biden White House Marijuana Use Firings

During March 2021 the Daily Beast reported that “dozens of young White House staffers,” newly hired by the incoming Biden administration, had been “suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use.” The Daily Beast reported this policy was “frustrating” for many staffers (both those affected by the policy and others) because of “indications from the Biden administration that recreational use of cannabis would not be immediately disqualifying for would-be personnel.” ⁷

The affected staffers identified Filipic as the person executing their dismissals: ⁸

“There were one-on-one calls with individual affected staffers—rather, ex-staffers,” one former White House staffer affected by the policy told The Daily Beast. “I was asked to resign.”

“Nothing was ever explained” on the calls, they added, which were led by White House Director of Management and Administration Anne Filipic. “The policies were never explained, the threshold for what was excusable and what was inexcusable was never explained.” ⁹

According to the Daily Beast: “Several staffers were informally told by transition officials that some past marijuana use would be overlooked, only to be told later that they were being asked to resign.” ¹⁰

Partisanship at Enroll America

Filipic was president of Enroll America from January 2013 through August 2017. ¹¹ Enroll America was a supposedly non-partisan charitable advocacy group founded for the express purpose of enrolling people in Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) insurance plans and ensuring those people renewed their enrollments. ¹²

During Filipic’s leadership the organization was accused of and criticized for engaging in partisan political advocacy. As an example, following the 2016 election Filipic alleged that attempts by Republican majorities in Congress and incoming President Donald Trump might “take away life-saving coverage from millions of people.” ¹³

And a 2013 sting video by the right-leaning investigative journalist group Project Veritas appears to show a Texas spokesperson for Enroll America claiming that the organization worked with and shared data with Battleground Texas, a left-of-center political action committee. The mission of Battleground Texas is to turn Texas (a Republican stronghold for many years) into a “battleground” state where Democratic candidates running for both state and federal office would have significantly higher chances of winning elections. ¹⁴

1. “White House Senior Staff: Anne Filipic.” Biden-Harris Transition. March 24, 2021. (accessed via WayBack Machine). Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20210119201948/https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/anne-filipic/
2. Bixby, Scott; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. “Biden White House Sandbags Staffers, Sidelines Dozens for Pot Use.” Daily Beast. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use
3. “White House Senior Staff: Anne Filipic.” Biden-Harris Transition. March 24, 2021. (accessed via WayBack Machine). Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20210119201948/https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/anne-filipic/
4. “White House Senior Staff: Anne Filipic.” Biden-Harris Transition. March 24, 2021. (accessed via WayBack Machine). Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20210119201948/https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/anne-filipic/
5. Linkedin. “Carlos Monje.” Linkedin Website. Undated. Accessed March 22, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-monje
6. Mallozi, Vincent M. “Anne Filipic and Carlos Monje.” The New York Times. July 29, 2011. Accessed March 22-2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/fashion/weddings/anne-filipic-carlos-monje-weddings.html
7. Bixby, Scott; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. “Biden White House Sandbags Staffers, Sidelines Dozens for Pot Use.” Daily Beast. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use
8. Bixby, Scott; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. “Biden White House Sandbags Staffers, Sidelines Dozens for Pot Use.” Daily Beast. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use
9. Bixby, Scott; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. “Biden White House Sandbags Staffers, Sidelines Dozens for Pot Use.” Daily Beast. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use
10. Bixby, Scott; Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. “Biden White House Sandbags Staffers, Sidelines Dozens for Pot Use.” Daily Beast. March 18, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use
11. Linkedin. “Anne Filipic.” Linkedin Website. Undated. Accessed March 22, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-filipic-b2a5844
12. “What is GCA.” Enroll America. Accessed March 24, 2021. https://enrollamerica.org/what-is-gca/ 
13. Filipic, Anne. “After Nearly Six Years of Unprecedented Enrollment Success, Enroll America is Ready to Pass the Torch.” Huffington Post. March 16, 2017. Accessed March 24, 2021. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/after-nearly-six-years-of-unprecedented-enrollment_us_58c9b302e4b0537abd956d9a
14. Fund, John. “The Truth about Navigators.” National Review. November 11, 2013. Accessed March 24, 2021. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/363699/truth-about-navigators-john-fund