WASHINGTON—The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday unanimously approved the nomination of Jacob Lew to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Committee, led by Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Me., approved the nomination by a solid, bipartisan vote of 9-0.
“Mr. Lew has extraordinary public service experience and is a first rate government official,” Lieberman said. “As OMB Director under President Clinton, he was involved in negotiations that led, not just to a balanced budget, but a $237 billion surplus. We all know that times have changed and our present economic challenges are different and more difficult than they were in the 1990s, but Mr. Lew’s experience in the public and private sectors will serve him, the Administration, and the American public well in the months ahead.”
Collins said: “The last time Mr. Lew served as OMB Director, a Democrat President worked with a Republican Congress to balance the federal budget. I hope this is a case where history repeats itself.”
The Budget Committee must vote on the nomination within 30 days or it will be sent directly to the full Senate for confirmation.
Read Lieberman’s statement prepared for the record here.
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