Word on the street has it that the Office of Management and Budget will announce on Friday or Monday that Mike Howell, chief information officer at the Interior Department, will be the new deputy administrator for e-government and information technology.

Mike Howell

The post was held by Tim Young, who joined OMB five years ago and became deputy admin in August 2004, and announced he would return to the private sector when his replacement was found. The deputy administrator was a politically appointed position but was recently changed to a civil service job, which means Howell will be at the center of the presidential transition next year.

If true, Howell will become the second top ranking IT executive at Interior to leave. Ed Meagher left his post as Interior's deputy CIO in July to join SRA International's health care unit.