Obama Takes Questions On Economy, Deficit

By Ari Shapiro,

Brian Naylor

Published January 7, 2009 at 11:28 AM EST

At a new conference, President-elect Obama names Nancy Killefer as the nation's first governmental performance officer, to be assigned to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The former Clinton Treasury Department official will head a new office that will closely follow how well federal programs are working.

The announcement came on the same morning that the Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. economy will see a budget deficit of over $1 trillion for fiscal year 2009.

Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.

See stories by Ari Shapiro

Brian Naylor

NPR News' Brian Naylor is a correspondent on the Washington Desk. In this role, he covers politics and federal agencies.

See stories by Brian Naylor

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