We reported yesterday that Kal Penn (stoner Kumar in the Harold and Kumar movies) left TV series House, but what we didn’t know then is the reason: Penn is going to the White House.

Penn, who worked on the Obama campaign last year, has taken the position of Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. The role (as the title suggests) is working with the public, in particular in outreach programs.

Gawker though notes that he might end up “picking up tea bags from the White House lawn all day, and nothing else.”