Performance Czar Killefer Withdraws Candidacy

Nanny Tax in the News Again
By Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123367405418643627.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Nancy Killefer, nominated by President Barack Obama to be the federal government’s first chief performance officer, is withdrawing from the post, the White House said Tuesday.

Ms. Killefer is the third Obama nominee to confront tax problems. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confirmed despite disclosure about his failure to pay certain taxes. Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for Health and Human Services, is under scrutiny for his delinquent payment of some $140,000 in taxes and interest.

Ms. Killefer, 55 years old, failed to pay employment taxes on household help for a year and a half the Associated Press reported. In 2005, the AP said, the District of Columbia filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay the unemployment compensation tax. The error was resolved five months later.

An administration official confirmed that she is withdrawing over a tax problem. The official said that the matter surfacing during the vetting that took place before her nomination was announced and the Obama team decided to move forward anyway.

“But the environment changed,” the official said. “On the heels of Geithner and Daschle, she just didn’t want to go through with it.”

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