Nancy Killefer Selected as First Chief Performance Officer

Not only is Barack Obama filling positions that he hopes will jumpstart the country back on track, he has also been creating positions as well. Obama has created the position of Chief Performance Officer for the purpose of overseeing government reforms and fiscal order. For that job, Obama has tapped Nancy Killefer to take, in Obama's own words, one of the most important positions of his administration.

According to CNN, Obama announced this pick today while stressing the need to fix the budget. Nancy Killefer will be appointed to set performance standards for agency managers and federal agencies.

Killefer is, as many Obama appointments have been, someone with ties to the Clinton administration. Killefer was an assistant secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton, and is currently director at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Killefer has been brought in to aid in Obama's goal of fiscal responsibility and getting agencies to reduce the federal deficit. Killefer will also have power to hold ageny managers directly accountable for progress, or a lack thereof.

Killefer's major work will begin to that end after Obama finishes work on his stimulus package. The package could cost upwards of over $775 billion and increase the deficit further. Obama had previously told reporters yesterday that he expects the deficit to go over a trillion dollars this year.

But Obama swore that after the country began to recovery from the recession, attention would be paid toward reforming and reducing the deficit and federal budget.

Killefer will also be expected to reduce government waste and oversee the budget to eliminate what isn't needed.

Obama and several others are expecting a trillion dollar deficit for some years to come. All Obama can do is try to make a small dent in it for his first term, then hope to gain a second term to create further progress.