OMB Leadership Bios

Peter Orszag, Director

Peter R. Orszag is the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama Administration, having been confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2009. In this role, he oversees the Administration's budget policy, coordinates the implementation of major policy initiatives through the Federal government, and reviews Federal regulatory action, among other responsibilities.

From January 2007 to December 2008, Dr. Orszag served as the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), supervising the agency's work in providing objective nonpartisan, and timely analyses of economic and budgetary issues. Under his leadership, the agency significantly expanded its focus on areas such as health care and climate change.

Prior to CBO, Dr. Orszag was the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution.  While at Brookings, he also served as Director of The Hamilton Project, Director of the Retirement Security Project, and Co-Director of the Tax Policy Center. During the Clinton Administration, he was a Special Assistant to the President of Economic Policy and before that a staff economist and then Senior Advisor and Senior Economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Orszag has also founded and subsequently sold an economics consulting firm.

Dr. Orszag graduated summa cum laude in economics from Princeton University and obtained a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics, which he attended as a Marshall Scholar. He has coauthored or co-edited a number of books, including Protecting the Homeland (2006), Aging Gracefully: Ideas to Improve Retirement Security in America (2006), Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach (2004), and American Economic Policy in the 1990s (2002). He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences.

Dr. Orszag is an avid runner and has completed several marathons.

Jeffrey Liebman, Acting Deputy Director

Jeffrey Liebman is Acting Deputy Director for Budget at the Office of Management and Budget where he has served as Executive Associate Director and Chief Economist. Liebman is on leave from his position as the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he teaches courses in public sector economics and American economic policy. In his research, he has studied tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty, and income inequality. Recent research has examined the impacts of government programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Social Security, and housing vouchers. In the Clinton Administration, Liebman served from 1998-1999 as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House National Economic Council. Liebman received his BA from Yale University and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.

Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Director for Management and Chief Performance Officer

Jeffrey Zients was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009, as the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget and the nation’s first Federal Chief Performance Officer. He has twenty years of business experience as a CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur with a deep understanding of business strategy, process reengineering and financial management. His expertise extends across a broad range of industries and geographies. He most recently served as Managing Partner of Portfolio Logic, an investment firm focusing primarily on business and healthcare services companies. Prior to founding Portfolio Logic, Zients served as CEO and Chairman of The Advisory Board Company and Chairman of the Corporate Executive Board. These two firms are leading providers of performance benchmarking and best practices across a wide range of industries, assisting senior executives at over 5,000 businesses to improve the efficiency of their operations. Zients began his career in management consulting at Bain & Company and Mercer Management Consulting, where he focused on developing strategies and improving operations of Fortune 1000 companies. He also co-founded The Urban Alliance Foundation, a non-profit organization that partners with corporations to provide economically disadvantaged youth with year-round paid internships, adult mentors and job training. Zients graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a degree in Political Science. He and his wife Mary live in Washington, D.C. and have four children.