House Shocker Has White House Implications

I'm a fan of the tv show House, and last night's episode was truly a shocker as Kal Penn's character, Dr. Kutner, committed suicide. Everyone is left grappling with the issue, and Penn wanted to leave the show in order to pursue other interests.

Penn is going to the White House. He's going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison.

Yes. I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House. I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I'm going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign.

Will you actually be working in the White House?
PENN: This particular office is in the executive building. The White House has two buildings: the actual White House and an old Navy building called the Old Executive Office.

Are you there as long as Obama's in office?
PENN: A lot of that stuff is up in the air. This is a relatively recent development.

Safe to say you're taking a huge pay cut?
PENN: Oh, yeah. There's not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. But, obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor.

Penn's character was one of my favorites on the show among the new characters brought on in the past season. The role on House and the new job at the White House is quite a leap from Penn's prior roles in stoner movies like Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

I'm curious as to what his actual qualifications are to do that job though.