Bloomberg News reports that President Barack Obama could name deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough as his next chief of staff as early as this week.

If selected, McDonough would succeed Jack Lew, Obama's pick as the next Treasury Department secretary, pending Senate confirmation.

Bloomberg describes the 43-year-old McDonough as a "longtime ally of the president."

The Stillwater native and St. John's University graduate worked as a foreign policy adviser to Obama when he served in the Senate, joining his staff in 2007. During his career on Capitol Hill, McDonough has also worked as National Security Council communications director, chief of staff to National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and a foreign policy adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat.

McDonough would be Obama's fifth chief of staff. Ron Klain, a former chief of staff for Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, is also thought to be in the running for the job.

Unlike high-ranking cabinet positions, the chief of staff job isn't subject to Senate confirmation.