Office and Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag will step down next month, Bloomberg News reported last night.
No official word yet on why Orszag may be leaving. OMB spokesman Ken Baer said “At this point, we are not confirming anything,” when Federal Times reporter Tim Kauffman asked about Orszag’s expected departure. But Orszag is getting married in September, which may have something to do with it. And the New York Times said that Orszag has told associates that “having worked on two budgets, a stimulus plan and the health care law, it is time to leave while he is ahead.”
Orszag’s complicated private life earned him press attention far beyond the wonky publications that usually cover OMB, and he may be the first OMB director to have been described as having an “Internet fan base.” Last year, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the NY Times that Orszag “made nerdy sexy.”
His departure would not be unusual at this point. Running OMB is a high-stress job, and several other directors have left after about two years. But at least Orszag will presumably be able to leave on his terms, which may be more than Gen. Stanley McChrystal can say by the end of the week.
