WASHINGTON  — With his administration on the defensive over its handling of the Ebola crisis, President Obama on Friday tapped experienced White House hand Ron Klain to serve as his czar who will coordinate the federal response to the deadly disease.

He’s a lawyer, not a doctor — with a résumé some Republicans are already blasting as too political for the job.

But the White House — sensitive to criticism of its handling of Ebola just weeks before the midterm elections — brought in a seasoned insider with political sensitivities who knows the sprawling bureaucracy.

Klain was Vice President Al Gore’s top aide during the high-stakes 2000 presidential recount.

More recently, Klain served as Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, helping oversee the stimulus.

Like a number of Obama’s picks, Klain went to Harvard Law. “He is smart, aggressive, and levelheaded — exactly the qualities we need in a czar to steer our response to Ebola,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

But Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who chaired a House committee hearing on Ebola Thursday, tweeted his skepticism.

“New #EbolaOutbreak Czar w/o HC background or infectious disease experience? Don’t need another WH political spokesman,” Murphy wrote.