The New Crowd: Obama’s Nominees Outline Plans Excerpts from confirmation-hearing testimony by some of President Obama’s nominees: The president’s choice to head the Office of Management and Budget says the new administration will move to strengthen the acquisition workforce, which he said has not kept up with the rapid growth of federal contracting. “This is an area where some increased costs will actually save money,” Peter Orszag told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Reform Committee. “By constraining acquisition officers, we’re being penny-wise and pound-foolish, because you might save a little on human capital costs, but you’re losing a lot in terms of cost overruns and other problems in the procurement budget.” Orszag and his deputy-designate, Robert Nabors, said they will work with agency heads to decide what, if any, programs will be eliminated. “I don’t think we can start from a position of just cutting,” Nabors told the committee. “We need to evaluate the effectiveness of the program ... and what the shortfall would be if the federal government wasn’t performing that function.” President Obama has pledged a line-by-line review of the federal budget to identify programs that could be cut or eliminated. He has also nominated a chief performance officer to develop metrics for judging the effectiveness of government programs. * * * The nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “Acquisition reform is not an option. It is an imperative. Lynn, a former vice president of defense contractor Raytheon, said he will have an “active reform agenda” that will include strategic planning, budget and oversight. * * * Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says one of her biggest priorities will be “the nuts and bolts: acquisition, program management, procurement.” Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the former Arizona governor said, “I want to create a culture where this is a department … not 21 separate agencies.” “Many of the [DHS] components operate in a nearly autonomous matter,” she wrote in answer to supplemental questions. “I intend to review the processes in place in these key areas and work to promote integration among and between DHS and the components.” * * * Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wants funding for National Park Service maintenance and improvements to be included in the economic stimulus package. “We know there’s over $2.5 billion in initiatives and programs ready to go,” he told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, “… and I hope to add those in our recovery packages.”