Office of Management and Budget

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr.
Director
202-395-4840
A veteran of the Reagan White House and Capitol Hill, Daniels was a natural choice for the new Bush Administration. But Bush raised more than a few eyebrows by nominating Daniels to be budget director, because Daniels had no direct budget experience. Bush emphasized the Hoosier's experience in government and in business, and Daniels has surrounded himself with the budget wonks he needs to crunch the numbers. Daniels, 52, began his career with Richard Lugar when Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis. When Lugar was elected to the Senate, Daniels followed him to Washington and served as his administrative assistant. During the 1984 election cycle, Daniels became director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Following that stint, he went to the Reagan White House, but left in 1987 after a public clash with Chief of Staff Donald Regan over how the Iranian arms scandal was handled. A graduate of Princeton University and the Georgetown University Law School, Daniels joined the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based think tank, after leaving the Reagan Administration. In 1990, he moved to Eli Lilly and Co., where he served as senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy, before joining the Bush Administration. Allies have praised Daniels's understanding of how policy and politics intersect. And while he pledged during his confirmation hearings to place more of an emphasis on the management side of his office, Daniels was forced to prepare a budget quickly after Bush took office. He has promised to try to work with Congress to repair the budget and appropriations process, which has often dragged on well past the start of the new fiscal year.

Sean O'Keefe
Deputy Director
202-395-4742
O'Keefe's nomination as deputy director is a sure sign that OMB plans to play a more active role on defense issues, OMB Director Mitchell Daniels said in an interview. O'Keefe, 45, served as comptroller and chief financial officer for the Secretary of the Navy during the first Bush Administration-giving him close ties to Vice President Dick Cheney. O'Keefe also has Capitol Hill experience, having served as staff director of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Before his nomination, he had served as a professor at the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. O'Keefe, who grew up in New Orleans, is a graduate of Loyola University in that city and holds a master's degree in public administration from the Maxwell School. Daniels said that O'Keefe will play a significant role in the Administration's plans to reform the military, noting that OMB typically has steered clear of defense issues. O'Keefe also brings important appropriations experience to OMB.

John D. Graham
Director (designate)
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
202-395-4852
The choice of Graham to head OIRA was one of Bush's more controversial nominations. Some consumer groups charged that as director of Harvard University's Center for Risk Analysis, Graham showed a pro-industry bias and may have produced results favoring the interests of sponsors. Graham has said that his center "simply followed the scientific data and analysis, wherever they happened to lead us." OMB Director Daniels called Graham, 44, "absolutely" the best choice available, adding that he will "bring great credibility to the regulatory review process." A native of Pittsburgh, Graham received a B.A. from Wake Forest University, a master's from Duke University, and a doctorate from Carnegie-Mellon University. From 1985 until his selection at OIRA, Graham taught risk analysis, risk communication, and cost-benefit analysis at Harvard's School of Public Health. He launched the risk analysis center in 1990. During confirmation hearings, Graham pledged to stimulate "more analytical thinking" on major regulatory issues, and said he will "work to achieve regulatory reviews that are timely, transparent, and rigorous."

Mark A. Forman
Associate Director for Information Technology and E-Government
202-395-3080
As a candidate, Bush promised to upgrade federal computer networks to improve government's interaction with citizens. As President, Bush has given the job to Forman, formerly an executive with Unisys Corp., a computer-services firm. In his new role, Forman will report to OMB's deputy director for management, who also oversees areas such as the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Bush has asked Congress to give Forman $100 million over the next three years to build up the electronic connections between the citizenry and the government's myriad computers. That's a token amount, but Forman's clout will be considerable, because OMB can reject the agencies' technology plans, and because Forman will direct the government-wide council of agency technology chiefs. At 42, Forman has worked on high-tech issues for almost 20 years. Before his stint at Unisys and a tour at IBM, he worked on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, where he helped draft several procurement-reform and computer-management laws. Forman grew up in Ohio. He received a B.A. from Ohio State University and an M.A. in public policy studies from the University of Chicago.

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