White House social secretary Desiree Rogers told Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet she was stepping down from her position because "As we turn the corner on the first year, this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world," adding that it was "an honor and a privilege to serve this president and First Lady, in what has certainly been a historic presidency."

Rogers, a friend of the Obamas, who had been in the spotlight after the White House party crasher incident at a State Dinner, claims that the episode did not cause her to step down, but the Washington Post reports, "According to one person with whom Rogers shared her grievances and who would only speak anonymously to divulge details of a sensitive topic, Rogers complained that the White House's effort not to antagonize the Secret Service led to the White House making an example of her. (The Secret Service director publicly took the blame and the White House declined to make Rogers available to the House committee.) According to the friend, Rogers said she felt the knives in the White House were out for her."

Rogers was seen as a glamorous and unconventional figure. At the infamous State Dinner, eagle-eyed Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan asked Rogers if her dress was Commes des Garcons, to which Rogers answered, "Of course." Givhan described the dress, " It was the sort of attention-getting dress, with its translucent sleeves and strands of pearls encased in layers of tulle, that proclaimed the wearer a fashion savant."