Tomorrow at 9 AM, the Senate Budget Committee will be holding a hearing on Jack Lew, President Obama's nominee for Director of Office of Management and Budget, a position which has been open since Peter Orszag stepped down in late July. I'm expecting most of the questions posed to Lew will revolve around debt/deficit issues, since, during his time as President Clinton's last OMB director, he was the last director to oversee a budget surplus.

And following the SBC hearing, Lew will be questioned by the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee at 3:00 PM

Hopefully the hearing won't focus entirely on those issues, since it's not like Lew can wave a magic wand and create surpluses wherever he wants. The OMB director is but one voice on a president's economic team, a team which doesn't always have the loudest voice when it comes to economic issues. And that says nothing of the fact that the president himself has only marginal control over federal spending levels. Just ask Article 1, Section 7of the US Constitution .

So just remember that when senators are lobbing deficit questions at Lew tomorrow, it's mostly for the camera's benefit. Ideally, tomorrow's hearing should focus more on the "management" section of Lew's desired title, since he will be helming the agency responsible for overseeing guidance and regulation on topics as diverse as toxic coal ash and federals spending reporting.

For those who want to see the action in person, the hearing will be in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 608. It'll also be on C-SPAN 3, of which you can find an exciting live feed here.