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Robert Lee Nabors II (; born March 27, 1971) was the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as
White House Deputy Chief of Staff The White House Deputy Chief of Staff is officially the top aide to the White House Chief of Staff, White House chief of staff, who is the senior aide to the president of the United States. The deputy chief of staff usually has an office in the Wh ...
for Policy and several other senior roles in the
Obama White House Barack Obama's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 44th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Barack Obama, his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democra ...
.


Early life and education

He was born in
Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Fo ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and lived in
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
in his youth. He received a
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
from the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
in 1993 and an M.A. from the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
in 1996.Rob Nabors: Approps staffer sees beyond the numbers
Libit, Daniel. Accessed November 25, 2008.


Clinton Administration

Nabors first joined the Office of Management and Budget, straight out of graduate school, as a program examiner in 1996. Assigned to the Bureau's commerce branch, he was given responsibility for the decennial
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, and while he was working on that task, he was recognized as a "budding wunderkind" by OMB Director
Jack Lew Jacob Joseph Lew (born August 29, 1955) is an American attorney and diplomat who served as the 28th United States ambassador to Israel from 2023 to 2025. He was the 76th United States secretary of the treasury from 2013 to 2017. A member of the ...
, who promoted him to special assistant to the director in 1998. In 2000, he was further promoted to assistant director for administration and executive secretary.


Congressional staff

Nabors joined the minority staff of the powerful
House Appropriations Committee The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Co ...
at the end of the
Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
. Appropriations Chair Dave Obey promoted him to minority staff director in 2004. When the Democrats won the House in 2006, Nabors became majority staff director. "'He was just the best man for the job,' says Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, 'and he understands the House, he understands the committee, he understands the town, he understands the bureaucracy, and he doesn’t take any crap from anybody. His demeanor is very nice and very cool, but he doesn’t take any crap from people.'" Nabors said it was his job not just to "recite" budget numbers but to "own the information" and understand the human meanings behind the numbers.


Obama Administration

Nabors' selection as Deputy Director of OMB, along with the selection of
Peter Orszag Peter Richard Orszag (born December 16, 1968) is an American business executive and former government official. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of Lazard. Announced as Lazard's incoming CEO on May 26, 2023, he assumed the r ...
as Director of OMB, was announced by President-Elect
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
on November 25, 2008. In February 2010 Nabors became senior advisor to then-
White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
. Jeff Liebman replaced Nabors as Acting Deputy Director at OMB. In January 2011 it was announced that Nabors had succeeded Phil Schiliro as the head of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Nabors' tenure as Director of Legislative Affairs was characterized by difficult and contentious negotiations with the new Republican House Majority in the
112th Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...
, most vividly on display in the debt-ceiling crisis of 2011. The stand-off eventually produced the compromise
Budget Control Act of 2011 The Budget Control Act of 2011 () is a Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statute enacted by the 112th United States Congress and signed into law by President of the United States, US President Barack Obama on August 2, 2011. The Act ...
, which resulted in the budget sequester in 2013. In November 2011, Nabors was included on ''The New Republic's'' list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people. At the start of President Obama's second term, Nabors was named White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, alongside the new Chief of Staff
Denis McDonough Denis Richard McDonough (born December 2, 1969) is an American government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. McDonough served in the Presidency of Barack Obam ...
. In May 2014, in response to the Veterans Health Administration scandal, the President dispatched Nabors to oversee a review of practices at the
Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
. Emails released by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs show that Nabors pressured the IG to downplay the link between extended waiting times and veteran deaths. On January 19, 2016 he became Director of Policy and Government Affairs covering the U.S., Canada and Asia Pacific at the
Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabors, Rob 1971 births Living people Obama administration personnel People from Fort Dix United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials United States Office of Management and Budget officials United States presidential advisors University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of Notre Dame alumni White House deputy chiefs of staff