OMB nominee gets easy first hearing

Carper's committee shows bipartisan support for the likely next budget director.

Sylvia Matthews Burwell - Photo Courtesy of the Walmart Foundation

Sylvia Mathews Burrell, the nominee to take over as director of the Office of Management and Budget, had a congenial confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on April 9.

Burrell, the president of the Walmart Foundation, served as deputy OMB director from 1998 to 2001. She appeared to have bipartisan support from the committee, engaging in pleasant conversation and fielding generally easy questions.

"To be head of the Office of Management and Budget at this particular time in our nation's history is an extraordinary position," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) in introducing the nominee. "We're going to be debating the best course for our country's future. It's going to take the wise, wise hand."

"There must be some character flaw that she wants the job, but other than that I think that she is very well qualified," said Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.). "This is an excellent choice and I wish her well. Maybe before she leaves she could get us some discounts at Wal-Mart."

During the period for questions, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) reminded Burwell that Congress's expectation will be for the OMB director to take a leadership role in addressing the nation's financial matters and asked if she felt confident in her ability to do so. Burwell said she would expect to be a key member of the president's budget team.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) asked about OMB's management function, honing in on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which requires an agency regulatory agenda to be published in the spring. "Last year, the spring agenda never showed up," he said.

Burwell said she did not know why the agenda had not been sent last year, but hedged from meeting Portman's request to commit to delivering the annual document, because, she said, she did not know why it had not been.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, (R-NH), asked about a Government Accountability Office report on duplication of IT investments across government and how Burwell would work toward achieving the goals GAO laid out. Burwell responded with several examples.

"We need to move from the hundreds of data centers we've already gotten rid of to hundreds more," she said. "I think we need to think about the IT part of the role of OMB in a couple of different ways. One is about increasing effectiveness and efficiency, and I think that gets to the core of what you're talking about with the GAO report. "

But there are other aspects as well, she said, expanding on the answer. Transparency, meaning fiscal visibility to both the public and to other federal leaders is important, as is innovation, she said.

Earlier, in her opening remarks, Burwell had laid out her vision of the role.

"I believe in the greatness of our nation," she said. "Our nation has made important progress over the past four years. We have pulled out of a deep economic downturn. Our financial markets have stabilized. Businesses are hiring again."

But, she said, there is more to do.

The Obama administration is already in dialog with Congress on matters such as deficit reduction and increased efficiency and effectiveness, a relationship she hopes to continue.

Burwell, who will appear before the Senate Budget Committee for another confirmation hearing on April 10, said she also wants to make OMB an agency were talented professionals would want to work, and to ensure that both sides of the agency's mission are emphasized.

"Although OMB is most well-known for the work on the budget, the management side of OMB is critical," she said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.