Statement of Chairman Tom Carper on the Nomination of Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget

WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del) took the Senate Floor to urge his colleagues to confirm the Nomination of Shaun Donovan to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Chairman Carper’s statement, as prepared for delivery, follows:

Mr. President— The Committee which I am privileged to chair, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is responsible for working with the Administration and others to help make sure that federal agencies work better and more efficiently with the resources we entrust to them.

During my years of public service, I’ve learned that an essential ingredient in enabling organizations to work efficiently is leadership.  That is the case both in government and the private sector, and in organizations large and small.  Part of our shared responsibility here, then, is ensuring that we have effective leaders in place across our federal government.

And, it is every Senator’s constitutional role to provide advice and consent on the President’s nominations in a thorough and timely manner as part of the Senate’s confirmation process.

Today, we have an important nomination before us – the nomination of Shaun Donovan to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Secretary Donovan for his willingness to take on this critical role. While he has large shoes to fill left behind by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, I believe he is up to the task.

Secretary Donovan’s nomination was successfully reported out of both the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. I am hopeful we will be able to do our part here today and vote to fill this key vacancy.

We know that Secretary Donovan is a strong leader who can take on and solve tough problems.  As Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the past five years, he has guided the nation through one of the worst housing crises in our lifetime.  

We also know that Secretary Donovan is someone who can cut through red tape and find ways for agencies to work more effectively together. 

That is precisely why the President asked him to chair the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force.

He has also had high-level experience in local government, as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and has worked in the private and non-profit sectors.  So he knows from all angles how federal budget decisions impact not only federal agencies, but also communities, businesses, and individual Americans.

I believe he has the diverse experience, strong work ethic, and leadership skills to get the job done and successfully continue his public service as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

As Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Secretary Donovan will be faced with helping to lead our country onto a more sustainable fiscal path. 

I believe that the grand budget compromise we need must have three essential elements.  First, it must address both spending and revenues.  Second, it must control the costs of our entitlement programs.  And it must demand that through better management of the government, we deliver better services to the American people at a lower cost.

In all three of those areas, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is the point person for finding out how we can do more with less wherever possible.  

I know from my conversations with Secretary Donovan that he will be a strong voice for fiscal responsibility and effective government management. As Senator Collins pointed out in introducing Secretary Donovan before my Committee a few weeks ago, he is known for using rigorous data analysis to demand better results from government programs and to save taxpayer money.  And as she also pointed out, he will be a leader of integrity and intelligence in a critical job.

I believe Secretary Donovan is well qualified for the position to which he has been nominated, and I urge all of my colleagues to support his nomination.