SHAPING UP

Trump Taps Mulvaney as Budget Director

Mulvaney will help “make smart choices about America’s budget.”

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday said he’s picked U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina to be his White House budget director. The announcement, made just as Trump begins a holiday vacation at his Mar-A-Lago estate, shows the president-elect placing his bets on a fiscal conservative to pursue his agenda. Mulvaney, 49, will still have to get confirmation from the Senate to take the post of director of the White House Office of Budget and Management. He was an outspoken critic of Hillary Clinton throughout the presidential race, frequently echoing Trump’s remarks about Clinton being a criminal. In a statement announcing the appointment on Saturday, Trump praised Mulvaney as a strong proponent for “reining in out-of-control spending, fighting government waste and enacting tax policies that will allow working Americans to thrive.” “Right now we are nearly $20 trillion in debt, but Mick is a very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from drowning in red ink,” he said. Mulvaney, who called it a “great honor” to be nominated, vowed to “restore budgetary and fiscal sanity.”