Daniels named as Bush's budget director
From CNN's Brad Wright
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Mitch Daniels, an Indianapolis businessman with a
long history of work in the upper echelon of the GOP, was named Friday by
President-elect George W. Bush to be director of the Office of Management and
Budget.
Daniels, the vice president of corporate strategy and policy at the
pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, served as an assistant to the president during the Reagan administration. Daniels served Republican Richard Lugar as his chief of staff
and other positions while Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis, before Lugar became
a Senator. When Lugar was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial
Committee, Daniels was executive director. Daniels also head of the Hudson Institute, a public policy research organization, in 1987.
In a paper statement issued to reporters at the Washington transition office, Daniels is quoted as saying: "I am honored to be summoned to service by President-elect Bush and look forward to joining him in making bipartisan progress on the issues important to Americans. The federal surplus is a hard earned accomplishment that belongs to the American people and I am pleased to help the President-elect ensure that it is used for responsible goals."
Bush is quoted in the same statement as saying: "Mitch Daniels is a successful businessman who has an extraordinary amount of experience working within the federal government. He will be an important adviser within my administration and will help ensure that our federal government maintains fiscal discipline."
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