OMB calls on expert temp

OMB

The Bush administration has called on a member of the private sector to temporarily fill the void created by the absence of an Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management.

Robert O'Neill, president of the National Academy of Public Administration, will serve as a counselor to OMB Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. starting this month. He will be in that position for up to 120 days.

O'Neill has been a fellow at the academy since 1997, and joined NAPA full-time as president in January 2000 after leaving his position as executive of Fairfax County, Va.

As counselor, O'Neill will coordinate federal policy and programs with various governmentwide management councils, including the CIO Council, the President's Management Council, the Procurement Executives Council and the Chief Financial Officers Council.

Sean O'Keefe, OMB deputy director, is overseeing the agency's management responsibilities. No nominee has been selected for the post of deputy director for management.

OMB also is awaiting the confirmation of the nominees for administrator of the management offices under the deputy director for management: the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Considering O'Neill's experience with federal agencies' management issues through the studies NAPA performs every year, he should be able to help, said Jim Flyzik, chief information officer at the Treasury Department and vice chairman of the CIO Council.

"I think he has a lot of expertise in the management area...[and] it should make a good match," he said.