Obama Nominates New Budget Chief

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Jacob Lew to replace Peter R. Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Lew, who currently is deputy secretary for management and resources at the State Department, served as budget chief during the Clinton administration.

Lew has a long resume in budget, finance and management, and could be one of those rare leaders who brings both the 'M' and 'B' to the job.

Update, 12:03 p.m.: Here's some additional background on Lew, courtesy of a 1998 CongressDaily report, when he got the top job at OMB for the first time. And here's a GovExec piece from 2000, about Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., then chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, taking Lew to task for what he characterized as shortcomings in OMB's reports under the Government Performance and Results Act. Thompson said the goals OMB listed in its report weren't tied to specific and measurable outcomes, as the law requires. Lew's response: "Many of the measures we urge on operating agencies are not applicable to OMB's own work."