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The Short List: Key Federal Management Jobs

An update on President Obama’s nominees and potential picks for top government management positions.

September 29, 2009

Editor's note: This chart has been updated to include a new potential administrator of OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Speculation on who President Obama would select for his Cabinet began almost immediately after his historic victory on Nov. 4. But less has been said about how Obama might fill lower-level positions that have a direct influence over management and workforce policies affecting federal employees.

We have asked government observers to share their thoughts on likely candidates for jobs such as the director of the Office of Personnel Management, who will have a critical role in determining whether the next administration continues a push toward pay-for-performance, and the chief of the General Services Administration, government's main purchasing agency.

The chart below tracks their predictions. We will update it regularly as we receive more information, and as Obama announces nominations. Please note that nobody named in the "rumored" column has confirmed that he or she is under consideration. Their names have been provided by other sources.

Position	Current Occupant	Rumored	Nominee
Chief Performance Officer	New position	One observer noted Obama might combine this position with that of deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (see potential picks for that spot below).	Jeffrey Zients, Washington-area entrepreneur and management consultant.
Chief Technology Officer	New position	Steve Jobs, chief executive officer of Apple Inc. District of Columbia technology chief Vivek Kundra reportedly is under consideration for a role in the Obama administration. It is unclear exactly what role that might be, but the chief technology officer spot would be a logical choice.	Aneesh Chopra, Virginia secretary of technology.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Jim Nussle	N/A	Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office. Announced on Nov. 25.
OMB Deputy Director for Management	Clay Johnson III	Nancy Killefer, senior director and manager of the Washington office of McKinsey & Co. Steven Kelman, professor of public management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Kelman served as head of OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997.	Jeffrey Zients, Washington-area entrepreneur and management consultant.
Administrator of OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy	Lesley Field, acting	Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council Colleen Preston, former executive vice president for policy and operations at the Professional Services Council Cathy Garman, staff member of the House Armed Services Committee Peter Levine, staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee Christopher Yukins, professor specializing in procurement law at The George Washington University Steven Schooner, professor specializing in procurement law at The George Washington University Daniel Gordon, deputy general counsel of the Government Accountability Office
Controller of OMB's Office of Federal Financial Management			Danny Werfel
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs	Susan E. Dudley	N/A	Cass Sunstein, professor Harvard Law School
Administrator of the General Services Administration	Paul Prouty, acting	Steven Kelman, professor of public management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Kelman served as head of OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997. Martha Johnson, leader of the GSA agency review for Obama's transition team. Johnson was GSA chief of staff in 1996 under David Barram. Christopher Yukins, professor specializing in procurement law at The George Washington University. Steven Schooner, professor specializing in procurement law at The George Washington University.	Martha Johnson, leader of the GSA agency review for Obama's transition team.
Director of the Office of Personnel Management	Kathie Ann Whipple, acting	John Berry, director of the National Zoo and former executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. John U. Sepulveda, deputy director of OPM during the Clinton administration. Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a good government nonprofit. Mark Roth, general counsel of the American Federation of Government Employees, volunteered that the union would "vehemently oppose" Stier's nomination -- without being asked about Stier specifically. Roth claimed Stier has "consistently" supported Bush administration reform efforts that the union has opposed, including the Defense pay-for-performance system. He would not comment on whether Stier was under consideration for the top human resources job in government. Ron Sanders, chief human capital officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence	John Berry, director of the National Zoo and former executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	Stuart Ishimaru, acting	Earp's term ends in 2010, so this appointment is not imminent.	Jacqueline A. Berrien
Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority	Thomas Beck	We haven't come across any names for this position, which is the top spot at the agency that sets the rules for how federal unions organize. The American Federation of Government Employees has made recommendations to the transition team, but the union declined to make those suggestions public. In the past, AFGE's Mark Roth has praised FLRA member Carol Pope, who was appointed by President Clinton.	Carol Pope
Chairman of the Federal Service Impasses Panel	Becky Norton Dunlop	No names have surfaced here. But federal labor representatives have been extremely unhappy about the direction of this panel, which settles deadlocked negotiations between agency managers and employee unions. Labor groups have charged that the current panel members do not have the arbitration experience necessary to do their jobs objectively. Obama wrote in an October letter to American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage, "In all of my administration's hiring decisions, I will work to ensure that each nominee has a clear understanding of the labor-management collective bargaining process and my commitment to assuring its fairness. The same goes for my appointments to the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel."
Special Counsel	William Reukauf, acting	Elaine Kaplan, former special counsel under Clinton Beth Slavet, judge on the Merit Systems Protection Board during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics	John Young Jr.	Norm Augustine, former president of Lockheed Martin Corp. Was undersecretary of the Army from 1975 to 1977. Betsy Phillips, influential intelligence staffer on the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee John Douglass, former president of the Aerospace Industries Association David Oliver, former deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; now executive vice president of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., North America Jacques Gansler, held the position from 1997 to 2001; now a professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council Colleen Preston, executive vice president for policy and operations at the Professional Services Council Cathy Garman, staff member of the House Armed Services Committee Peter Levine, staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee	Ashton Carter, professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

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