Jack Lew To Become White House Chief of Staff

You may have already read the news yesterday, but current OMB director Jack Lew will be replacing Bill Daley as President Obama's chief of staff at the end of January. The move is a good indication that the various budget negotiations--over expiring provisions and reaching a deal on a fiscal plan before the sequester hits--will be near the top of the agenda in 2012. It will certainly be a demanding job and we wish him all the best in his new position.

Of course, that leaves the OMB director spot open. There doesn't seem to be any chatter yet about who will fill the position, but as the Washington Post's Ed O' Keefe notes, whoever does will be taking over at a good time for transition (assuming that happens relatively soon). Most of the "legwork" has already been done for the FY 2013 President's budget, so the new director will just have to be explaining and defending it until the budget-writing process for FY 2014 starts later this year.

Again, we wish Jack Lew luck in his new position and we eagerly await the next OMB director.