Obama names Nancy Killefer 'chief performance officer'
Killefer, a former Treasury official, will be in charge of eliminating unnecessary government spending and curbing inefficiency. Obama concedes that his stimulus plan will add to deficit.
Reporting from Washington — President-elect Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he is creating a new high-level position to wring waste and inefficiencies out of government, as part of a broader push to bring more discipline to federal spending.
At a news conference, Obama introduced a "chief performance officer" -- Nancy Killefer, a partner at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and a former Treasury Department official in President Bill Clinton's administration from 1997 to 2000.
Part of her job will be eliminating unnecessary spending -- an essential goal at a time when the federal deficit is expected to reach $1.2 trillion, Obama said.
He cast Killefer's appointment as one of the most important he will make as president. And he said he would order his new Cabinet and staff to meet with Killefer after his inauguration on Jan. 20 "to discuss how they can run their agencies with greater efficiency, transparency and accountability."
Obama conceded that his economic stimulus package would add to the deficit, but he defended it as a step needed to revive the ailing economy.
His transition team estimates that the two-year stimulus would range from $675 billion to $775 billion. Taking questions from reporters, Obama said he is consulting with members of Congress about the "final size of the package," but added that "we expect it will be on the high end of our estimates."
He seemed to reject calls for an even more aggressive stimulus bill in the range of $1 trillion. He cited as a reason "the constraints and concerns we have about the existing deficit."
Republican members of Congress have insisted the stimulus not be freighted with dubious pork-barrel projects. Obama sought to allay such fears, pledging to root out "earmarks" -- spending that favors special-interest groups.
He said the goal is to "use this money wisely, effectively, in a two-year time span so we're not creating long-term obligations that would add to the structural deficit that exits, but would provide an immediate boost to the economy."
On other matters, Obama reiterated that he did not want to stake out a position on the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, cautioning that he is not yet president and does not want to send mixed signals that could undermine the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts.
Though he is willing to give detailed prescriptions on the economy, he said foreign policy is a different matter, requiring more discretion.
