President Barack Obama has begun selecting a director for the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, an office that was vacant during the past two years of the Bush administration, the Washington Blade reports. 

“We are actively interviewing to begin hiring for the Office of National AIDS Policy,” said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council in a February 18 e-mail to New York-based AIDS advocacy group Housing Works.  

Barnes later told the Blade that while some were unsure as to whether or not Obama would retain the AIDS office, it will continue under the current administration with its director serving as a full participant on the White House Domestic Policy Council.