White House budget director's love child -- who knew? [updated]

Budget Director Peter Orszag looks the part. He's bespectacled, a straight-arrow dresser, a sober presence on Capitol Hill whenever he shows up toting those huge budget books with their huge deficits.

But apparently the quiet numbers guy has a busy personal life.

The 40-year-old divorced father of two -- who shares custody with his ex-wife -- was in a "committed relationship" with Greek heiress Claire Milonas. According to the New York Post, when the couple learned last spring that Milonas was pregnant, he promised to marry her.

But then Orszag attended the White House Correspondents' Assn. dinner, where he met 31-year-old journalist Bianna Golodryga, a financial correspondent for ABC. The numbers guy is now planning to marry Golodryga, an event she announced on ABC's "Good Morning America."

[Updated at 1:28 p.m.: Orszag met Golodryga after he had broken up with Milonas.]

On Wednesday, Orszag and Milonas issued a joint statement acknowledging the Nov. 17 birth of their daughter Tatiana Zoe and asking for -- you guessed it -- privacy.

We were in a committed relationship until the spring of 2009. In November, Claire gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Although we are no longer together, we are both thrilled she is happy and healthy, and we would hope that everyone will respect her privacy.

As the Washington Post's Joel Achenbach put it, it's one thing to call for privacy, but it's another to balance three families AND the national budget.

No telling what President Obama, a committed family man, must think of all this. Maybe he longs for the days when the only controversy over his appointees involved unpaid taxes.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Bianna Golodryga, Peter Orszag and Claire Milonas (inset). Credit: Patrick McMullan / New York Post

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Comments

[austin personal injury lawyer]

I really hope they work out because she's a beautiful woman who deserves the best!

[Pray]

Shame to the White House he should be fired!!!!!!!!

[Janice]

What a dirt bag. Children are not disposable. Orszag's choices, while of a personal nature, speak volumes for the (low) level of sincerity, accountability and honor of this administration. Obama's judgment about friends and associates went south right after he married Michelle.

[Bobby]

Any wagers how long this one'll last? In so far as authentic family values are concerned (not Republicans' type of family values), this guy has no character. Is it so tough to appreciate and strive for Obama's family values?