Obama names Orszag to run White House budget office

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama nominated Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag on Tuesday to be the director of the White House budget office.

Obama, who will take office on January 20, also named Rob Nabors as the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, a statement from his office said.

"In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative," Obama said in the statement.

"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," he said.

Obama said he would ask his economic team to "think anew and act anew" to meet new challenges.

"We will go through our federal budget -- page by page, line by line -- eliminating those programs we don't need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way," Obama said.

(Editing by Patricia Zengerle)