Nussle wins Senate confirmation to White House job

Former Iowa Congressman/2006 Iowa GOP nominee for governor Jim Nussle has been confirmed as the president’s budget advisor.  His title:  director of the Office of Management and the Budget.  The DC folks call it OMB. The vote in the Senate:  69-24.  Among the "no" votes were Hillary Clinton & Joe Biden.  Barack Obama & Chris Dodd were campaigning in Iowa and did not vote. GOP candidates John McCain Sam Brownback weren’t there to vote, either, but neither is in Iowa today.  Interesting "yea" vote came from Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold & Indiana Senator Evan Bayh — both Democrats.  As previously announced, both of Iowa’s Senators (Grassley & Harkin) backed Nussle for the job.

The president’s folks issued a statement from Bush a few moments ago.  Nussle issued a statement about an hour ago.

"I thank the Senate for its strong bipartisan vote confirming Jim Nussle as Director of the Office of Management and Budget," President Bush said in a prepared statement.  "Jim’s confirmation comes at a critical time for our Nation’s budget as Congress considers this year’s annual spending bills.  With less than a month until the new fiscal year begins, Congress has not sent any of the twelve appropriations bills to my desk.  We must work together quickly to get the people’s work done on time.  Jim is a strong advocate for fiscal discipline and pro-growth economic policies, and he will help lead efforts to balance the budget by 2012 by restraining federal spending and keeping taxes low.  And as OMB Director, he will work to provide transparency regarding federal spending and earmarks, strong accountability in government, and better results for taxpayers.   I congratulate Jim and his family on today’s confirmation and thank him for his continued service to our Nation."

I don’t exactly know why "Nation" is capitalized in that last sentence, but that’s the way in came into the newsroom. 

Here’s Nussle’s statement: “I am humbled and honored to be confirmed as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  I thank the U.S. Senate for their broad, bipartisan support and will continue to work with members in both chambers of Congress on the important responsibility of delivering results for taxpayers. 

“I look forward to helping to develop and implement the President’s agenda by working with Congress on our common goal of balancing the budget and making government more efficient.  This includes working with our agencies to ensure they are well managed so that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, or not at all.  We also need to hold the line on spending to maintain a pro-growth, low-tax environment that allows American workers to keep more of their hard-earned money.  I am also committed to continuing efforts with Congress to responsibly address our Nation’s biggest long-term fiscal challenge – the unsustainable growth in entitlement spending.   It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to work on these important issues on behalf of the President and with a tremendously talented group of professionals at OMB.  As always, I want thank my family for their ongoing support of my public service.”