Higginbottom confirmed as deputy OMB head

President Obama's controversial choice to be the deputy head of the Office of Management and Budget was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a vote of 64 to 36.

The vote on the nomination of Heather Higginbottom, a former aide to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), had been held up for more than 10 months by the GOP.

Republicans say Higginbottom, a former Obama policy director and campaign staffer, is unqualified and overly political. They have also used the nomination process to blast Obama's budget policies.

Other Republicans said the president should be granted his choice of top staff.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) agreed to allow the vote to go forward last week after getting the administration to publish Iran sanctions regulations.

Higginbottom's chief responsibility will be overseeing the writing of the 2013 budget, due out in February.