President Obama has narrowed the list of candidates for White House chief of staff down to two — current interim boss Pete Rouse and former Clinton Commerce Secretary William Daley — according to two senior Democratic sources close to the process.

The president wants to move quickly on naming the next full time chief of staff, the sources said, noting that a slew of staff moves could be announced as early as Friday.

The two Democratic sources told CNN that the president would like to get the uncertainty about his long-term chief of staff sorted out within the next week as part of a broader reshuffling that will also likely include the departure of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Several Democratic sources added that the president is likely to name Gene Sperling, a former Clinton administration official who is now a counselor at the Treasury Department, to replace Larry Summers as the head of the National Economic Council. One senior Democrat said it is “more or less done” that Sperling will get the post over former Clinton official Roger Altman, although it has not been made official yet.

After mulling all his options during the long holiday break in Hawaii, Obama is now privately feeling like he needs to move quickly to flesh out the broader reorganization within the White House in order to gear up for the Republican House that takes power on Wednesday, several senior Democratic sources said. He also wants his new team in place so he can focus on the upcoming State of the Union address.

The senior Democratic sources said Gibbs could land another senior post inside the White House but is more likely now to move to the private sector and become a spokesman and strategist for Obama on the outside. In that role, they said, he would shuttle back and forth between Washington and the eventual re-election campaign office in Chicago, freeing him up to focus more on politics and help the president from the outside.

The two leading contenders to replace Gibbs are his current deputy Bill Burton, an Obama loyalist who is popular within the administration for his long tenure dating back to his distinguished service in Chicago for the 2008 campaign, and Jay Carney, a former journalist who is now the well-respected communications director for Vice President Joe Biden. Some Obama insiders see Carney as a more seasoned replacement for Gibbs.

(Source: CNN)