Obama to nominate long-time former fed to be OMB controller

Management

Obama to nominate long-time former fed to be OMB controller

David Mader would come back to government after spending most of the last 11 years at Booz Allen Hamilton. Mader spent 32 years working for the IRS before retiring...

Jason Miller@jmillerWFED

May 2, 2014 4:31 am

3 min read

President Barack Obama intends to nominate David Mader to be the controller of the Office of Management and Budget.

The White House announced the President’s plans to tap Mader, a senior vice president for strategy and organization at Booz Allen Hamilton, to return to government. It was one of several management positions announced Thursday.

Mader would replace Danny Werfel, who served as controller of OMB for four years and left last fall to take over the IRS as acting commissioner.

The irony of Mader’s potential nomination is he worked at the IRS for 32 years, rising to senior executive levels including acting deputy commissioner, acting deputy commissioner for modernization and chief information officer, assistant deputy commissioner and chief for management and finance before leaving government.

Since he retired in 2003, Mader worked at Booz Allen for most of his post government career.

Mader should be well known around OMB, which is one of his many Booz Allen clients. According to the company’s website, Mader works with several agencies, including the Department of Treasury, Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration and the Government Accountability Office. He provides an assortment of consultant services, from organizational transformation to financial management to strategic community to performance management.

Mader’s nomination is a bit of a departure for the White House in that it’s choosing someone with decades of federal experience, though still from the ranks of a consultant. Typically, the administration has chosen senior OMB political appointees with limited or no real federal experience.

Along with Mader, Obama plans to nominate Robert Gordon to be the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development at the Department of Education, and Dr. Jeffrey Murawsky to be the undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gordon would replace Carmel Martin, who served in that role since 2009 and left in March 2013.

Gordon is an executive branch veteran, serving in various roles at OMB from 2009 to 2013, including acting deputy director, executive associate director and associate director for human resources. He’s been a guest scholar at the Brooking Institution since 2013.

Murawsky would replace Dr. Robert Petzel, who has been in his role since February 2010 and has been expected to leave as soon as a new undersecretary was in place.

In some ways, Murawsky is returning to VA. He served as the associate manager for Medicine and Neurology Services at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Illinois. Since 2009, he has been the network director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN 12), as well as an associate professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Obama plans to nominate Debra Wada to be the assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

Wada currently is a professional staff member for the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, a position she has held since 1999.

Wada would replace Thomas Lamont, who left his role after four years in September.

All of the positions need Senate confirmation.

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