Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today reacted with disappointment and gratitude at the announcement that Director Rob Portman would be leaving the Office of Management and Budget. 

“Rob Portman is one of the best friends the taxpayers have ever had at the Office of Management and Budget.  Upon his appointment in 2006, he immediately reached out to taxpayer groups and engaged them in an all-out effort to fight for tax relief and spending discipline.  One of his first successes was passage of the line-item veto act, and he has always worked tirelessly to increase accountability, transparency, and efficiency in government,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.

Earlier this year, Director Portman led the effort to create the government’s first earmark database, which forms the basis for reducing the number and cost of earmarks in fiscal 2008.  He also negotiated the removal of the most egregious pork-barrel projects in the emergency spending bill for the War on Terror that was signed into law in May.

“Director Portman’s entire career has been dedicated to championing the cause of taxpayers, most recently in his recommendation that the President veto appropriations bills that exceed the fiscal 2008 budget request, and his unprecedented and extraordinarily important letter to federal agencies following passage of the fiscal 2008 continuing resolution, in which he told officials to ignore calls from members of Congress that would circumvent the moratorium on earmarks,” Schatz said.  “While Director Portman will have been in office for only 14 months once he formally resigns, he has built a lasting legacy of fiscal responsibility.”

“The White House should be congratulated for nominating former House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle as OMB Director,” Schatz added.  “He has a lifetime vote rating as a ‘Taxpayer Hero,’ and we look forward to working with him in the upcoming battles for lower taxes and spending restraint in Washington.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.