More White House Economic Advisers to Step Down

Two of President Barack Obama's top economic advisers plan to quit.

White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Diana Farrell and Treasury Department Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael Barr both plan to leave in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Barr is expected to return to the University of Michigan Law School. He is leaving his government job for family reasons, a Treasury spokesman said.

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Barr was one of the architects of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Barr "fought tirelessly" for financial reform and that "our country is stronger, our financial system more stable, and our families better protected because of his work."

The White House economic team has seen rapid turnover. Budget Director Peter Orszag has already departed and Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, is due to return to Harvard University next month.

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, is also planning to quit early next year, while former chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel left the White House to run for the position of mayor of Chicago.