Departing OMB chief says new supplemental spending bill unlikely

Departing Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels said Thursday he does not expect the administration to request another fiscal 2003 supplemental spending bill to cover the cost of war in Iraq or its reconstruction.

"I believe the preponderance [of data] will show the fiscal plan was as well conceived as the military plan was," Daniels told reporters after meeting with the House Republican Policy Committee. "We'll keep watching. You can't say anything with finality."

Daniels added that 2003 revenue estimates are "still weak," but said he did not expect OMB to make any adjustments in its forecasts before the scheduled midyear review.

Daniels declined to say that he plans to run for governor when he returns to Indiana, despite public expectations that he will. "I've got 28 days to work for [President] Bush first," was all he would say.

Nor would Daniels say who his successor might be or whether he has made any particular recommendations to the president, although he did say he and Bush have "had a lot of conversations" on the subject.

Clay Johnson, a longtime Bush friend and nominee to be OMB deputy director for management, is in line for the post, although his confirmation has been held up by objections from Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.