The House of Representatives Thursday approved a bill to install a chief financial officer at the White House.
The bill, H.R. 437, passed by a vote of 413 to 2. It would extend the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, which installed CFOs at the 24 largest federal departments and agencies, to the Executive Office of the President. The White House CFO would also be responsible for financial operations at the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisors, and other top-level White House offices.
Under the bill, the President could exempt the White House from certain provisions of the CFO Act.
The House passed an identical bill in the 105th Congress, but the Senate did not take the measure up.
"Those who administer federal departments and agencies must be accountable to the citizens and taxpayers of the nation for their financial management," Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., said Thursday. "This right and proper notion should be no less true for the Executive Office of the President."
Horn is the original sponsor of the bill.
In its statement of administration policy on the measure during the last Congress, the Clinton administration said it had no objection to the bill.
NEXT STORY: Comings and Goings