and mr. clain is doing a -- >> what has mr. clain brought to the table? >> i can't say i've been in touch with him every single day. i've been in touch with him countless number of times. >> okay. >> i believe that the critical value that ron has brought to this is coordinating the federal response between and among all the agencies, components you see represented here and having somebody who is dedicated full time to the white house to doing exactly that. >> secretary? >> nearly every day in contact with him and he has done an outstanding job of doing just that, coordinating and singular focus for the administration of coordinating across interagency. >> i've just been back from maternity leave for two weeks, senator. ron was appointed to his position prior to my returning. >> you'll be excused. >> since then we've had frequent interactions. it's the policy coordination that's so key to our response. >> to your knowledge, does mr. clain have the authority or power to direct your agencies to perform any specific actions or is it main ly trying to bring yu

and mr. clain is doing a -- >> what has mr. clain brought to the table? >> i can't say i've been in touch with him every single day. i've been in touch with him countless number of times. >> okay. >> i believe that the critical value that ron has brought to this is coordinating the federal response between and among all the agencies, components you see represented here and having somebody who is dedicated full time to the white house to doing exactly that. >> secretary? >> nearly every day in contact with him and he has done an outstanding job of doing just that, coordinating and singular focus for the administration of coordinating across interagency. >> i've just been back from maternity leave for two weeks, senator. ron was appointed to his position prior to my returning. >> you'll be excused. >> since then we've had frequent interactions. it's the policy coordination that's so key to our response. >> to your knowledge, does mr. clain have the authority or power to direct your agencies to perform any specific actions or is it main ly trying to bring yu

. >> what has mr. clain brought to the table? >> i can't say i've been in touch with him every single day. i've been in touch with him countless times. >> okay. >> i believe that the critical value that ron has brought to this is coordinating the federal response between and among all the agencies, components you see represented here and having somebody who is dedicated full time in the white house to doing exactly that. >> secretary? >> my first meeting with mr. clain was within 24 hours of him assuming duties and not daily but nearly every day in contact with him and he has done an outstanding job of doing just that, coordinating and singular focus for the administration of coordinating across interagency. >> i've just been back from maternity leave for two weeks, senator. ron was appointed to his position prior to my returning. >> you'll be excused. >> since then we've had frequent interactions. it's the policy coordination that's so key to our response. >> to your knowledge, does mr. clain have the authority or power to direc

and mr. clain is doing a -- >> what has mr. clain brought to the table? >> i can't say i've been in touch with him every single day. i've been in touch with him countless number of times. >> okay. >> i believe that the critical value that ron has brought to this is coordinating the federal response between and among all the agencies, components you see represented here and having somebody who is dedicated full time to the white house to doing exactly that. >> secretary? >> nearly every day in contact with him and he has done an outstanding job of doing just that, coordinating and singular focus for the administration of coordinating across interagency. >> i've just been back from maternity leave for two weeks, senator. ron was appointed to his position prior to my returning. >> you'll be excused. >> since then we've had frequent interactions. it's the policy coordination that's so key to our response. >> to your knowledge, does mr. clain have the authority or power to direct your agencies to perform any specific actions or is it main ly trying to bring yu

. >> i've been in touch with mr. clain every day since he has begun, whether that is face to face, by phone or by e-mail. in terms of what he has brought to bear it's been my experience and my experience last time when i served in government, the importance of policy coordination, i was there at the beginning of the national economic council where we did much consultation. it's a very important role in terms of when a whole of government is occurring. and he has stepped into that role and added value to our policy coordination across all of us. a lot of us have been working with folks before, but it is important to have people on a day-to-day basis to do that. >> secretary johnson? klain broughttary to the table? >> i have been in contact with him. i believe that the critical value that ron has brought to this is coordinating the federal response. >> ok. >> between and among all the agencies, components you see represented here and having somebody who is dedicated full time to the white house to doing exactly that. >