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Obama chooses former Clinton aide to head budget office

Other News Materials 25 November 2008 21:57 (UTC +04:00)

President-elect Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he has selected an economic advisor from Bill Clinton's administration to head the White House office that oversees the federal budget, dpa reported.

Peter Orszag, 39, will leave his post as director of the Congressional Budget Office to head the Office of Management and Budget if his nomination is approved by the Senate.

Obama touted Orszag as someone who can help identify wasteful spending and save taxpayer dollars while the United States tries to recover from the growing economic crisis.

Obama has moved quickly to announce his economic team to gain the confidence of Americans that his administration will be poised to take the reins from President George W Bush in January 20 and reverse the economic downturn.

"Given the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in, I think it is very important for the American people to understand we are putting together a first class team," Obama said at a press conference in Chicago.

Obama on Monday named Timothy Geithner to head the Treasury Department and Larry Summers as his top White House economic advisor. Summer served as Treasury secretary under Clinton.

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