New OMB deputy nominated

The Bush administration on Dec. 18 sent the Senate the nomination for Nancy Dorn to take over as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Dorn, Vice President Dick Cheney's legislative director and a former policy adviser to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would replace Sean O'Keefe, who is moving quickly though his confirmation to become the new NASA administrator.

Dorn brings experience in both government and the private sector to the position that oversees the federal budget and the President's Management Agenda, which includes improving the use of e-government, financial management and human capital.

As part of this, the OMB deputy director is the head of the President's Management Council and works closely with Mark Forman, OMB's associate director for e-government and information technology, to oversee the Bush administration's 23 e-government initiatives.

From 1991 to 1993, Dorn was assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, with budget and policy oversight.

Most of her other experience comes in foreign policy and relations. As deputy assistant secretary of Defense for inter-American affairs, Dorn was the primary Defense Department adviser on Latin American and Caribbean matters. In 1997, then-President Clinton named her as a member of the independent Inter-American Foundation.

Before joining Hastert's staff in 2000, Dorn was a lobbyist with Washington, D.C., law firm Hooper, Owen & Winburn, working on international policy and trade issues.