Nancy Killefer Named Chief Performance Officer

Signaling how serious he is about tackling the economic crisis, today President-elect Barack Obama announced that he was creating a new position to restore fiscal order, naming Nancy Killefer as the nation's first Chief Performance Officer. According to a transition team press release, Obama is calling this "one of the most important" appointments that he will make, and said that the current situation "requires immediate and decisive action." Killefer is tasked with a line by line examination of the budget to identify what works and to eliminate wasteful spending. Additionally, Killefer was nominated to be the next Deputy Director for Management at the OMB.

Obama will deliver a major speech on the economy tomorrow at George Mason University, to make the case for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, designed to jump start economic growth, and create 3 million jobs. Obama is expected to describe the plan as both new policy and a new approach that focuses on "responsibility, accountability, and transparency," to rebuild confidence in the economy.