Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill announced yesterday that Douglas W. Elmendorf will take over the Congressional Budget Office. In that role, the Harvard-educated economist will oversee a team of 230 people who provide nonpartisan, budgetary analysis to Congress.

Elmendorf's selection represents yet another political victory for the left-leaning Brookings Institution -- and the second instance in which he follows in the footsteps of Peter Orszag, who has been nominated director of the Office of Budget and Management.

While at Brookings, Orszag was the first director of the think tank's Hamilton Project, an effort promoted by former Treasury secretary Robert E. Rubin that promotes a progressive approach to economic expansion. When Orszag left to take over the CBO, he was replaced by Jason Furman. And when Furman left Brookings to become a policy adviser to Barack Obama during his presidential campaign, Elmendorf took over the Hamilton Project.

During his career, Elmendorf has also worked at the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department, the Council of Economic Advisers and the CBO.

The CBO, founded in 1974, had a budget of $37.3 million for 2008. This year, it issued 38 studies and reports, and delivered about 750 cost estimates on proposed policy changes. Though little known, the agency can wield enormous clout in its role as fiscal arbiter. Cost "scores" generated by the CBO can have a major impact on whether lawmakers support legislation.

-- Ceci Connolly