On deck: President Barack Obama has tapped Wal-Mart’s Sylvia Mathews Burwell as his next budget chief, thrusting her into the center of Washington’s heated partisan budget battles. A White House official says Obama will announce Burwell’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget during a White House ceremony today. If confirmed by the Senate, Burwell would bring more diversity to Obama’s second-term Cabinet following criticism that many top jobs were going to white men.
In line: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says some major U.S. airports, including Los Angeles International and O’Hare International in Chicago, are already experiencing delays as a result of automatic federal spending cuts. Although both of those big-city airports routinely suffer delays, Napolitano says that delays will become even worse beginning today, with wait times expected to double at some junctures.
On the up and up: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says stock prices have gotten a boost from low interest rates caused by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts. He says there’s no question that stock prices are higher than they would be otherwise because interest rates are essentially zero. Buffett says many money managers will be selling some investments when the central bank stops pumping extra money into the economy, adding that it will be a “very interesting day” when it becomes clear the Fed has reversed direction.
