Lew promotion leaves controversial deputy at top of OMB

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The Hill:

The promotion of White House budget director Jack Lew to the position of White House chief of staff blows a major hole in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will leave controversial appointee Heather Higginbottom as the official in charge.

Lew is slated to assume his position as the president’s 2013 budget, due in early February, goes to press, but this is just the beginning of the 2013 spending cycle. The budget director played a crucial role in 2011 budget negotiations with Congress to avert multiple government shutdowns and to secure an increase in the nation’s debt ceiling.

Higginbottom, by contrast, only assumed her role as deputy OMB director in October, after her nomination was blocked by the Senate for 10 months.

Republicans, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), said that Higginbottom’s lack of prior budget experience meant she was unqualified to serve as deputy. She suffered through a brutal hearing in the Senate Budget Committee.