Senate OKs OMB deputy director

The Senate July 31 confirmed Joel David Kaplan as the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, rounding out President Bush's new team for the executive office.

Kaplan joins OMB Director Joshua Bolten, who replaced Mitchell Daniels, and Clay Johnson, the deputy director for management.

Bolten and Johnson were confirmed earlier this summer. Kaplan replaces Nancy Dorn as the lead official for the Bush administration's governmentwide management initiatives.

Kaplan had served as the special assistant to the president in the Office of the Chief of Staff, where he helped develop administration policy on international economic affairs, homeland security, energy and transportation.

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia.