Obama Nominates New Defense Deputy CFO, Deputy CMO
Law360, Washington (March 5, 2015, 5:20 PM ET) -- President Barack Obama nominated two former Capitol Hill staffers for coordinating and developing business strategies and advising the chief financial officer for the U.S. Department of Defense, the White House said in a statement Tuesday.Obama tapped Peter Levine, who last worked as the staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee, for deputy chief management officer, a position in charge of organizing the Pentagon’s business operations. The DOD chartered the deputy CMO office in 2008 to help align business practices across the giant department, according to the office’s website.
If confirmed by the Senate, Levine would oversee Defense’s investment portfolio. He’d also help determine and lead the implementation of business strategies across the department’s numerous divisions.
Levine was staff director for the Armed Services Committee from 2013 to January 2015, the White House release said. He was the general counsel and minority counsel for the committee from 1996 to 2012. Before that, he was counsel to former Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin retired in January.
Obama nominated John Conger for DOD deputy undersecretary comptroller. If confirmed, Conger would be second in command to the department’s chief financial officer, Undersecretary Mike McCord, the principal adviser to the defense secretary on budgetary issues facing the $500 billion-a-year department.
Conger would be involved in DOD’s annual appropriations request to Congress, compiling financial reports and writing and enforcing the Pentagon’s financial management regulations.
Since 2009, Conger has been a DOD undersecretary focusing on energy, installations and environment. His responsibilities include overseeing the department’s $850 billion real estate holdings, according to the department’s website. He also works to improve energy efficiency at those sites and manages domestic base closures and consolidations.
He previously worked as the legislative director for Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, a former chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.
Conger holds an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A. in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University. Levine received a B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University, the White House said.
Efforts to reach Levine and Conger for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.
If confirmed by the Senate, the DOD appointees will join new Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who took office Feb. 17. Carter replaced Chuck Hagel, who resigned in November.
Obama made the Pentagon appointments along with a batch of nominations to other posts, including ambassadors to Kosovo and Guyana and a U.S. executive director to the International Monetary Fund, according to the release.
--Editing by Brian Baresch.
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