GOP Names Economist to Head Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Republicans named New York economist June O’Neill on Friday to be director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

O’Neill, 60, is director of the Center for the Study of Business and Government at Bernard Baruch College in New York, where she is also an economics professor. A registered Republican, she is also adjunct scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

The budget office is Congress’ official budget scorekeeper, having ultimate say on the cost of legislation.

O’Neill sidestepped questions at a news conference about whether she believed some tax cuts actually earn money for the government because they stimulate extra economic activity. Such projections, called dynamic scoring, are favored by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other conservative House GOP leaders, but are frowned upon by most mainstream economists and have never been used by government budget officials.

O’Neill would replace Robert D. Reischauer. His term expired last month but he has stayed on as lawmakers sought a replacement.

O’Neill is expected to receive formal approval from House and Senate leaders for the four-year term as early as next week and to begin serving in the $123,100-a-year position soon afterward. No confirmation vote by either body is required.