Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama announced today that Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, will be his White House budget director.

As head of the Office of Management and Budget, Orszag will put together Obama’s proposed spending plan. The president-elect announced the appointment in an e-mailed statement today before a planned Chicago news conference.

“In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option,” Obama said in the statement. “It is an imperative. We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a politician, lobbyist, or interest group.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Chicago at kchipman@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Chicago at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 25, 2008 11:54 EST