Friends in high places

Widespread reports have Walmart Foundation president Sylvia Mathews Burwell heading to Washington to serve as President Obama’s director of the Office of Management and Budget.

If true, Burwell’s tenure in Northwest Arkansas will have been short lived. She joined Walmart a little over a year ago after roughly a decade in various leadership roles with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to that, she held various positions in Washington, D.C. including deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

As head of the Office of Management and Budget, Burwell would be responsible for preparing the president’s annual budget.