The CBO Directorship Changes Hands Today

Update: Director Hall has written an introductory blog post.

Today marks not just April Fool's Day but also the end of Doug Elmendorf's six-plus year tenure as director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the beginning of Keith Hall's tenure. Hall was appointed at the end of February to be the ninth director in CBO's history after a long career in government and academia. Elmendorf's time as director saw CBO be a key player in several pieces of legislation - including the 2009 stimulus, the Affordable Care Act, and the Budget Control Act - and economic debates involving things like the health care slowdown, the post-recession labor market, and the minimum wage.

Unfortunately, the timing of Elmendorf's departure didn't allow him to do an April Fool's blog post, so he had to settle for a farewell post in which he thanked Members of Congress and their staff for their support and his CBO colleagues for their hard work. He concluded about the organization:

CBO’s mission, of course, goes on. For 40 years, CBO has provided the Congress with careful, objective analysis of budgetary and economic issues for use in making the difficult policy choices the country has faced. I am confident that this extraordinary institution will continue to do that for many years to come.

The director transition comes at a much less chaotic period than last time - during the depths of the Great Recession and consideration of the 2009 stimulus - but there is still plenty of work to be done this year and beyond. We wish Elmendorf luck in his future endeavors and wish Hall success in taking over the reins at CBO.