Melody Barnes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director of the Domestic Policy Council | |
| In office January 20, 2009 – January 10, 2012 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Heather Higginbottom Mark Zuckerman |
| Preceded by | Karl Zinsmeister |
| Succeeded by | Cecilia Muñoz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Melody C. Barnes April 29, 1964 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Marland Buckner |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (JD) |
Melody C. Barnes (born April 29, 1964) is an American lawyer and political advisor. Formerly an aide and chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barnes later worked at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, before joining Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After Obama took office as president, Barnes was appointed director of the Domestic Policy Council, serving in that post from January 2009 to January 2012. After leaving the White House, Barnes assumed roles at the Aspen Institute and New York University. Since 2016, she has been at the University of Virginia, where she teaches law and is the co-director of the UVA Democracy Initiative.