Orszag Weighing Obama’s Appeal to Stay On as Budget Director
By Julianna Goldman and Hans Nichols
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was poised to become the first member of Barack Obama’s Cabinet to leave, as early as this summer. Then came an appeal from the president insisting that he reconsider.
Orszag will make his decision soon, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg BusinessWeek will report in its April 26 issue. The 41-year-old budget director had been signaling to White House officials that he didn’t plan to remain for the next budget cycle, the person said.
While it is common for budget directors to begin to exit after about 18 months, Orszag’s departure would come just as Obama has begun to focus on deficit reduction.
A former director of the Congressional Budget Office, Orszag has worked to advance two of Obama’s top legislative priorities: the $862 billion stimulus measure passed last February and the $940 billion health-care overhaul. As director of the Office of Management and Budget, he has prepared both of Obama’s spending blueprints, projecting a deficit of $1.6 trillion this year.
When colleagues and individuals outside the administration ask how long he’ll stay, Orszag responds that previous OMB directors’ tenures have typically been about a year and a half.
“The job is very interesting because it touches all aspects of the government, but it can also be grueling,” said Franklin Raines, who was President Bill Clinton’s OMB director for 20 months and later served as Fannie Mae’s CEO. “The OMB director often stands in opposition to White House staff, Cabinet members, and senior members of Congress on a wide variety of issues. It can be draining to be the voice of responsibility all the time.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aOBxFJh8Qljw
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