Politics

Pelosi and Spratt Statement on New Director of the Congressional Budget Office

By Karina

Speaker Pelosi and House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt announced their support for Dr. Douglas W. Elmendorf to become Director of the Congressional Budget Office. Under the Budget Act, the Director is appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, after considering recommendations from the House and Senate Budget Committees. By custom, the House and Senate alternate in taking the lead role on the CBO Director?s selection; this time it is the House?s turn. Chairman Spratt stated that he will convene the Budget Committee and ask it to recommend Dr. Elmendorf while Speaker Pelosi announced her intention to name him to the position:

?In consultation with bipartisan Congressional leaders, it is my intention to move forward on the appointment of Dr. Doug Elmendorf as the new Director of the Congressional Budget Office,? Speaker Pelosi said. ?Dr. Elmendorf possesses a broad base of experience, having worked in all of the critical federal agencies which implement and oversee national economic policy: Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Council of Economic Advisers plus the Congressional Budget Office. He has the intellect, experience and integrity to serve the Congress in this critical position and shares our commitment to controlling deficits.?

?We undertook an aggressive search process for this position and interviewed a number of outstanding candidates,? said Chairman Spratt. ?Doug Elmendorf has a superb macroeconomic background with particular expertise in housing and financial market issues, which will be critically important when he is advising the Congress on proposals to tackle our economic crisis. Given the state of our economy, I hope the House and Senate Budget Committees can move forward quickly in the new year to make our statutory recommendation.?

?I am very pleased to join House Budget Committee Chairman Spratt in recommending Douglas Elmendorf to be the next Director of the non-partisan CBO,? Senate Budget Committee Chairman Conrad said. ?Dr. Elmendorf is one of our nation?s leading economists. He will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this post.?

Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Byrd said, ?The operation of the government ? to enforce our laws, to serve our people, to protect our liberties ? depends upon the Congress providing the funds necessary to do so. So it is imperative that we have at the helm of our independent Congressional Budget Office an individual who will not only review the budget submitted to the Congress by the President, but will also advise the members of Congress about how to best establish spending parameters as we craft a budgetary framework for the next fiscal year and beyond. In my capacity as a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committees and as President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, I look forward to working with Dr. Elmendorf in these endeavors.?

Dr. Douglas W. Elmendorf, an economist with a Ph.D. from Harvard, is currently Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, has taught at Harvard, worked at the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve, and served during the Clinton Administration at the Council of Economic Advisers and at the Treasury Department.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 30, 2008 (boomark / email).