A CFO for the White House?

The Clinton administration's fiscal 2001 budget proposal, released Monday, for the first time calls for the appointment of a chief financial officer to oversee the financial operations of the White House.

The CFO Act of 1990 required every federal agency to designate a senior manager for financial accounting and reporting.

However, Clinton's 2001 budget request, which if passed by Congress would become effective Jan. 20, 2001, would for the first time create a CFO position specifically for the White House. The president would have 90 days from that date the budget is approved to define for Congress of the duties and responsibilities the new position, and the CFO would be appointed within six months from that date.

The president's budget faces a tough uphill battle in a Republican-controlled Congress embroiled in an election year.