TPMDC Office of Management and Budget
Government Shutdown
Obama To GOP: Abide By Debt Limit Deal Or Else Face A Govt Shutdown Right Before The Election
President Barack Obama during his 2012 "State of the Union" address
In a major escalation of a slowly building fight over funding the government, the White House has warned House Republicans, in no uncertain terms, that the government will shut down in September if the GOP does not adhere to an agreement they cut with Democrats in August during the standoff over raising the nation's debt limit.
"Until the House of Representatives indicates that it will abide by last summer's agreement, the President will not be able to sign any appropriations bills," writes Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, in a letter addressed to congressional appropriators Wednesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Appropriations, Barack Obama, Debt Ceiling, Defense Spending, Government Shutdown, Military Spending, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, Spending
Recess appointments
Obama's Recess Appointments Dilemma Is About To Get Worse
President Barack Obama
Despite making several key, contentious recess appointments since Congress left town, the Obama administration is still operating with scores of vacancies, including an unexpected hole at the top of the Office of Management and Budget.
But their options for filing those vacancies are likely limited, unless President Obama is willing to dial his use of the recess appointment power up even further.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Constitution, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Labor, National Labor Relations Board, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, Recess, Recess appointments, Richard Cordray
Jack Lew
Hill Dems Celebrate As White House Chief Of Staff Is Replaced
President Barack Obama and Bill Daley
It's well known in Washington that outgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley had a dysfunctional relationship with Capitol Hill -- particularly with Democrats there. And early signs suggest the new Chief of Staff -- Jack Lew, who has run the Office of Management and Budget for over a year -- will by comparison receive a warm welcome.
"Folks up here will view Lew as a big improvement," says one highly placed Democratic Hill aide. "It's hard to see Lew making the same mistakes his predecessor did. Lew understands the way this place works."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bill Daley, Jack Lew, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, White House
Barack Obama
Obama Would Veto Latest GOP Assault On Pollution Controls
The Obama administration is rejecting House GOP leaders' latest attempt to box him into a corner on environmental protections.
Late Monday afternoon the Office of Management and Budget recommended the President veto two bills House Republicans are planning to bring to the floor for a vote later this week.
Topics: Barack Obama, EPA, Environment, House Republicans, John Boehner, Office of Management and Budget, Veto, White House
Barack Obama
Just The Facts: Republicans Falsely Claim Obama Seeks Biggest Tax Hike In History
President Barack Obama
After President Obama unveiled his jobs and deficit reduction plans, he took to the road to draw a contrast between himself and the Republican politicians who want to end his political career. Obama's proposes to spend money now on hiring people and cutting taxes temporarily to spur further job growth, and pay for it in just over a year, in large part by raising taxes on wealthy Americans.
The Republican vision -- phasing out safety net programs like Medicare in order to maintain low tax rates on the same group of affluent people -- is far less popular. So in their own tried and true way, Republicans recast Obama's plan for "shared sacrifice" as "the largest tax increase in history."
What a difference! But also untrue.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: American Jobs Act, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bush Tax Cuts, CBPP, Deficit, George H. W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jobs, Medicare, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, Ronald Reagan, Taxes, Treasury, Treasury Department, Unemployment
Jack Lew
White House: Tax Hikes For The Wealthy Will Largely Pay For Jobs Bill
Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew on Monday outlined plans to pay for President Obama's new jobs bill largely by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and closing tax loopholes for businesses.
Most of the new funds, Lew said, would be attained by limiting itemized deductions for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families making more than $250,000, a plan President Obama has tried to push since his campaign days. Taking these steps would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years, Lew said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Economy, Jack Lew, Jobs, Office of Management and Budget, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Unemployment
White House: Unemployment Will Average 9 Percent In Election Year
Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
President Obama's mid-session budget review confirms what most private and government projections have recently concluded -- that the economy is considerably weaker than earlier forecasts held, and won't fully recover from the Great Recession for years.
Most troubling, both for the country and for Obama politically, is that near-term unemployment is expected to remain significantly higher than expected, averaging 9 percent in fiscal year 2012.
Obama's budget office initially calculated its economic forecast based upon data available through June. Even that data presaged an 8.8 percent average unemployment rate in 2011 and an 8.3 percent average rate next year. But the mid-session review got delayed, and when the Office of Management and Budget revised it to incorporate the data through the end of August, the picture became much gloomier. Unemployment will average 9.1 percent this year, and 9.0 percent next year, OMB concluded, and won't dip below 7 percent until 2015 at the earliest.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Deficit, OMB, Office of Management and Budget, Unemployment
Veto
Don't Even Think About It: Obama Would Veto Boehner Debt Plan
The Obama administration is making its opposition to Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) two-step approach to raising the debt-ceiling crystal clear.
President Obama not only only dislikes the Boehner plan, but if somehow it defied all odds and got through the Senate and reached his desk, he would veto it. In a brief yet pointed Statement of Administrative Policy released by the White House Office of Management and Budget Tuesday afternoon, Obama's senior advisors said they strongly oppose the Boehner plan.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Debt, Debt Ceiling, John Boehner, Office of Management and Budget, Veto, White House
Barack Obama
White House Budget Meeting Ends With Both Sides Deeply Divided
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney
As Washington lurched precariously closer to a government shutdown, President Obama once again summoned Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to the White House Thursday afternoon in an attempt to strike a deal.
But at the end of the meeting, both sides appeared far from a compromise.
"We continue to have productive conversations -- they are polite and to the point," Boehner said, "but there is no agreement on the number of the policy."
Topics: Abortion, Barack Obama, Budget, Climate Change, Government Shutdown, Harry Reid, Jay Carney, John Boehner, Office of Management and Budget, White House
Barack Obama
White House Prepares For the Worst, Outlines Shutdown Plans
President Barack Obama
While President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) remain optimistic that Republicans and Democrats can strike a budget deal and avert a looming government shutdown by Friday's deadline, the White House's Office of Management and Budget is planning for the worst.
"From a good housekeeping perspective, we're cognizant that it's Wednesday and the deadline is Friday and so we need to take appropriate steps should appropriations lapse," a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call Wednesday.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Government Shutdown, Harry Reid, House Republicans, IRS, John Boehner, Medicare, Office of Management and Budget, Social Security
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