President Barack Obama will nominate Jacob “Jack” Lew as the new Director of the Office of Management and Budget, he announced in a public address on Monday.
Lew’s biggest challenge over the next few years will be the task of decreasing the current budget deficit and ensuring that the nation follows a “fiscally responsible path,” Obama said.
Obama expressed his faith in Lew in the address, citing a $236 billion budget surplus that Lew achieved while serving in the same position under President Bill Clinton’s administration.
“If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits,” Obama said.
During the Clinton administration, the federal budget saw a surplus for three consecutive years, Obama said. Lew is the only budget director in history to have managed a surplus for this long, he added.
Lew currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources under Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
Peter Orszag – the current Director of the OMB – will step down from the position once Lew takes office.
Obama called Orszag’s accomplishments as Director of the OMB “impressive.” When Orszag took office in January 2009, he faced a “record” $1.3 trillion deficit – the “worst economic crisis” the nation had seen since the Great Depression, Obama said.
Orszag played an “instrumental” role in creating and implementing the Affordable Care Act, which “prevented a second depression,” Obama said.
Lew’s biggest challenge over the next few years will be the task of decreasing the current budget deficit and ensuring that the nation follows a “fiscally responsible path,” Obama said.
Obama expressed his faith in Lew in the address, citing a $236 billion budget surplus that Lew achieved while serving in the same position under President Bill Clinton’s administration.
“If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits,” Obama said.
During the Clinton administration, the federal budget saw a surplus for three consecutive years, Obama said. Lew is the only budget director in history to have managed a surplus for this long, he added.
Lew currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources under Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
Peter Orszag – the current Director of the OMB – will step down from the position once Lew takes office.
Obama called Orszag’s accomplishments as Director of the OMB “impressive.” When Orszag took office in January 2009, he faced a “record” $1.3 trillion deficit – the “worst economic crisis” the nation had seen since the Great Depression, Obama said.
Orszag played an “instrumental” role in creating and implementing the Affordable Care Act, which “prevented a second depression,” Obama said.
