Life is a Series of Hellos and Goodbyes

Earlier this week, I announced that I will be stepping down as OMB Director.  It has been a great honor to serve in President Obama’s Cabinet, and the decision to step down was not an easy one.
 

After nearly four years in public service – first as head of the Congressional Budget Office and then as director of OMB – and since I will be getting married this fall, it was simply time for me to move on.
 

Over the past 18 months here at OMB, we helped the President in enacting and implementing the Recovery Act, which has played a key role in bringing the economy back from the brink of a potential depression, and in crafting historical and fiscally responsible health reform.

In addition, the team here at OMB produced two significant budget documents. The FY 2010 document, compiled in a matter of weeks after the transition, laid out a blueprint for the New Foundation the President seeks to lay for long-term economic growth.  The FY 2011 Budget proposed a three-year, non-security discretionary freeze and more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, more than any other budget in over a decade.  We have also made substantial progress in modernizing government, closing the IT gap, and creating a government that is both efficient and effective.
 

Despite these efforts, the nation still faces important fiscal challenges over the medium and long term, which was the motivation behind the President’s creation of the fiscal commission. The President has made it clear to his economic team that he is seriously committed to tackling our fiscal problems, and I look forward to continuing to support him and my colleagues in the ongoing effort to put the nation back on a sustainable fiscal course.