White House: Performance chief to serve as acting head of OMB

Deputy Director for Management and Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients will serve as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, the White House announced Tuesday.

The announcement comes after OMB Director Jack Lew was named White House chief of staff last week.

Zients was confirmed by the Senate as deputy director for management of OMB in June 2009 and was the first person to hold the position of federal chief performance officer.

"With decades of experience, Jeff has been a tremendous asset to our team and I'm confident in his ability to help us rebuild an economy where hard work and responsibility pay off and the middle class has a chance to get ahead," President Obama said in a statement Tuesday.

Many names were floated last week as possible permanent replacements for Lew, including OMB official and Wall Street veteran Josh Gotbaum and economic adviser Gene Sperling.