As they typically do in the days following a presidential election, media outlets have been publishing lists of potential appointments by the president-elect.  As you might expect given the current circumstances, much of the focus has been on who will be Treasury secretary, but almost all of the other cabinet posts, along with a few close-to-cabinet-positions, have been listed.  The one notable (at least to a budget person) exception is director of the Office of Management and Budget, which consistently has been missing.

For those who don't know, the OMB director is a member of the cabinet, so leaving it off the lists is at least a little curious (again, at least to a budget person).  And some previous administration OMB picks -- David Stockman, Leon Panetta, Dick Darman, for example -- have been the most visible, energetic, cointroversial, and influential members of their administrations.  At least at the beginning of a new presidency, OMB typically isn't a position that fades into the woodwork. 

So what's happened to OMB?

OMB Director Jim Nussle announced today that the Bush fiscal 2009 budget, which will be submitted to Congress on February 4, will posted online and not provided in printed books to Congress, the media, and executive branch departments and agencies.  Here's the full Nussle statement.

This is a surprise that could reverberate for months.