An economist, Ms. Aron-Dine is a leading authority on health, budget, and tax policy, with experience coordinating Federal policy on a number of matters. Ms. Aron-Dine has served in budget, tax, and health policy positions within the Executive Branch of the United States Government, and the private sector. Most recently, Ms. Aron-Dine served as the Vice President for Health policy at CBPP. In that position, she led CBPP’s work on Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other health care issues. Prior to that, Ms. Aron-Dine served as a Senior Counselor to the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, with responsibility for Affordable Care Act implementation and for Medicaid, Medicare, and delivery system reform policy. She has also served as Associate Director for Economic Policy and then as Acting Deputy Director and Executive Associate Director at OMB, and as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. In these latter roles she worked on a wide range of budget and tax issues.
As OMB’s EAD, Ms. Aron-Dine will be responsible for helping to craft the President’s discretionary and mandatory budget proposals, advocating for the inclusion of these proposals in legislation, and advising on budget execution and program administration issues across government.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute. It researches and publishes information about federal and state policies designed to reduce poverty and inequality, and to pursue fiscal responsibility. CBPP has no clients, is not a membership organization, and does not receive any federal grants or other funding.
Analysis
In accordance with Section 3 of Executive Order, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to grant Ms. Aron-Dine a limited waiver of the of the requirements of Section 1, Paragraph 2 of EO 13989 to enable her to effectively carry out her duties as OMB’s Executive Associate Director.
In making that assessment, I have determined that CBPP has expertise that is unique among non-governmental organizations in a number of areas directly relevant to Ms. Aron-Dine’s responsibilities at OMB. These areas include: funding levels and policy design of low-income and health programs and various technical budget concepts. CBPP also plays a unique role in shaping congressional, press, and public understanding of these issues. If Ms. Aron-Dine were not permitted to have direct communication with CBPP, her ability to fully and effectively perform the duties of her position would be impaired. Simply put, this waiver is supported by the government’s critical need for Ms. Aron-Dine to obtain the unique expert information provided by CBPP, and the fact that CBPP is a non-profit organization.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, I grant Ms. Aron-Dine a limited waiver of the restrictions in Section 1, paragraph 2 of the Executive Order to enable her to effectively carry out her duties as Executive Associate Director. Pursuant to this waiver, Aron-Dine may have direct communication with CBPP. This waiver does not otherwise affect Ms. Aron-Dine obligation to comply with all other applicable government ethics rules and provisions of
