President Barack Obama greeted his new White House staff this afternoon with a few announcements that he said “represent a clean break from business as usual.” According to this Associated Press report, President Obama said he’s instituting a pay freeze for the roughly 100 White House employees who make more than $100,000 a year. The move is a direct response to the economic crisis gripping the nation. In another move, Obama issued new rules that attempt to crack down on lobbyists influencing the administration. The rules restrict political appointees who leave the administration from lobbying former friends and colleagues for at least…
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CBO director Peter Orszag is the likely choice to head the Office of Management and Budget. The National Journal is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama will name Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB director will play a crucial role in the Obama administration, which inherits a $10 billion national debt and an annual deficit approaching $1 trillion. He will also be responsible for putting together Obama’s 2010 budget — and trying to push the 2009 budget through Congress before the current continuing resolution ends on March 6. Orszag has…
With his approval ratings at historic lows and the nation’s focus shifting to the incoming Obama administration, President Bush has a tough time garnering much attention these days. But hundreds of career and political employees who work at the Executive Office of the President gave Bush a rousing reception yesterday on the South Lawn of the White House. Flanked by his Cabinet and joined by First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Cheney and Cheney’s wife Lynne, Bush congratulated Barack Obama for winning the election and urged federal employees to make the transition to a new administration as smooth as possible. Joking about his graying hair and First…
Tomorrow the transition starts. But the Bush Administration isn’t over yet. It is still plugging away on its initiatives, as evidenced by the fact the Office of Management and Budget posted the latest President’s Management Agenda scorecard on Nov. 3. The stoplight-style scorecard, which may or may not survive transition to the new president, has an abundance of green these days, indicating success in achieving President Bush’s management priorities. According to the scorecard, agencies did very well at achieving their human capital and performance improvement goals this quarter. Commercial services management, e-gov, and financial performance were a bit tougher for…