At a news briefing this week, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney continued to push the Trump administration's goal of cutting back on Obama-era regulations. On Thursday, Mulvaney unveiled a "secret list" of proposed federal rules that he said the Obama administration had been hoping to implement. "They had a bunch of things that they wanted to regulate. And what we're hearing is that they just didn't want to tell you about it," said Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. "They thought it would be bad for their reelection prospects in 2012, so they created a secret list of regs that were not disclosed to you folks, and we are disclosing it."

US President Donald Trump has said that his budget chief Mick Mulvaney would take over as the White House chief of staff on a temporary basis after former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie abruptly withdrew from consideration for the post. Mulvaney, a former congressman who heads the White House Office of Management and Budget, would take over from retired Marine General John Kelly, who will step down from the top post in early January. "Mick has done an outstanding job while in the administration," Trump said, announcing the decision on Twitter on Friday. "I look forward to working with him in this new capacity." The decision came just hours after Christie, who had been considered a top candidate, withdrew his name.

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2016, file photo, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., center, leaves Trump Tower in New York. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Mulvaney as his budget director, naming a tough-on-spending conservative and an advocate of balancing the federal budget to the important post.

Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, before the House Budget Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, before the House Budget Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget. House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., back center right, questions Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, during the committee's hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget.

Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, before the House Budget Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, before the House Budget Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget. House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., back center right, questions Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, during the committee's hearing on President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 federal budget.