Based on comments by State Department insiders and policy watchers, Hillary Clinton is likely to reach outside the State Department to replace her deputy, Jack Lew, according to Politico’s Laura Rozen.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced July 13 Lew’s nomination as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Lew is currently the deputy secretary of state for management and resources.
Lew, reports suggest, is a vital player in the ongoing review of the U.S. foreign aid structure. As reported by Devex, Lew led a group of Obama adminstration officials in drafting recommendations for how to revamp U.S. foreign assistance.
“Clinton is likely to pick someone with Lew’s management and budget skills, over more of a strictly policy-oriented person,” Laura Rozen writes in the her Politico blog.
A likely replacement for Lew, according to Rozen, is Wendy Sherman, former counselor at the State Department. Sherman, who is now a principal with the Albright-Stonebridge Group, previously served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs and special adviser to former U.S. President Bill Clinton on North Korea.
Back in May 2009, Sherman was speculated to be among the top candidates for administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The position eventually went to Rajiv Shah.
In April this year, Shah and Lew went on separate but coordinated trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan to review staffing and budget resources, civilian and security assistance initiatives, and programs promoting governance and economic reforms in the two countries.
