Beth Cobert leaves McKinsey and Co. after nearly 30 years to become deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget.Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel was candid about his feelings on Beth Cobert as she was sworn in Monday afternoon as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget.
Cobert was confirmed last Wednesday by a voice vote in the Senate. She replaces Jeffrey Zients, who moved to the White House National Economic Council as director after his resignation in May.
Cobert comes from McKinsey and Co., where she was serving as director and senior partner. She joined the company in 1984 and served in various roles. Her roles have been primarily in consumer-facing industries such as financial services, health care and telecom, according to her bio on the McKinsey website.
In her statement to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Cobert said if confirmed, she would improve government management and performance by focusing on the four pillars the president outlined in his second-term management agenda.
“I believe that these are the right pillars on which to focus our government’s management efforts,” Cobert said in her statement. “Given the tremendous fiscal constraints our government is operating under, it is more important than ever that we carefully integrate management efforts into our budget processes and the delivery of government services.”
In a Twitter message on Monday, VanRoekel congratulated Cobert and expressed his excitement on being able to go back to being full-time U.S. CIO.
Congrats @BethCobert Just Sworn In as Dep Dir of Mgmt @ OMB. Me: “Acting” to “Formerly Acting” & more importantly, back to full-time US CIO!
— Steven VanRoekel (@stevenvDC) October 21, 2013
