With Orszag Resigning, White House Should Gear Up for a ‘Brutal’ Confirmation Fight
Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will leave the Obama administration in July, making him the first cabinet-level
Jul 31, 2020765.7K Shares11.4M Views
Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will leavethe Obama administration in July, making him the first cabinet-level official to resign. Accordingto The New York Times, Orszag never planned to stay more than two years, and his resignation puts him in line with most other OMB directors, whose tenures rarely lasted beyond 24 months. Indeed, of the last twelvedirectors of the OMB, only three served for more than two years.
At TAPPED, Tim Fernholz predictsa “brutal” confirmation fight for Orszag’s successor, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s not that Obama will nominate someone from outside the mainstream — if this list of potential nomineesis any indication, Obama is likely to choose a moderate with establishment-friendly credentials — it’s that Republicans are likely to approach any nominee as if he or she were the Soviet Union, resurrected and personified. After all, as Fernholz notes, growing concerns over government spending and deficits make this fight the perfect opportunity for partisan posturing and grandstanding. The OMB director is a bit too high-profile for Republicans to stall confirmation proceedings endlessly (as they’ve donewith other offices), but given the clear incentives in favor of delay — obstruction eats up floor time and makes the president look weak going into midterms — I wouldn’t be surprised if this goes on for much longer than the dayit took to confirm Orszag.
Paolo Reyna
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Paolo Reyna is a writer and storyteller with a wide range of interests. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
Paolo enjoys writing about celebrity culture, gaming, visual arts, and events. He has a keen eye for trends in popular culture and an enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. Paolo's writing aims to inform and entertain while providing fresh perspectives on the topics that interest him most.
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