Veterans of Clinton administration, Wall Street floated as possible OMB directors

A former Office of Management and Budget official and a counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were among the names floated Monday as replacements for outgoing OMB Director Jack Lew.

According to the National Journal, Democrats mentioned OMB official and Wall Street veteran Josh Gotbaum and economic adviser Gene Sperling as possible candidates to replace budget director Jack Lew, who accepted a job as President Obama's chief of staff on Monday after William Daley resigned from that post.

Currently serving as director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Gotbaum was executive associate director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration.

Gotbaum served as an adviser to former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and as assistant secretary of Defense for economic security. He then worked on Wall Street as a partner with Lazard Frères & Co. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Now serving as an adviser to Secretary Geithner, Sperling was appointed by President Obama as director of the National Economic Council in January 2011 -- a position he also held during the Clinton administration. He was a senior economic adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Sperling holds law and business degrees from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. He has worked for Goldman Sachs and with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on legislation that lifted restrictions on commercial banks, investment banks and securities companies.

The Hill has reported that controversial OMB deputy director Heather Higginbottom could serve as acting OMB director and be nominated as a permanent replacement for Lew.

Rob Nabors, another former deputy OMB director, also may be a possibility to replace Lew, according to The Hill.

Any nomination could face opposition in the Senate, where Republicans have expressed strong disapproval of Obama's recent recess appointments.

OMB could not immediately be reached for comment.

Charles S. Clark contributed to this report.