Hinting at a substantial clampdown on government spending over the next four years, this morning President-elect Trump announced the selection of South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney to be his first budget director, a nomination which would put a "fiscal conservative hawk" in charge of managing the federal budget and the logistics of government affairs.

As director of the Office of the Management and Budget, replacing Obama appointee Shaun Donovan, Mulvaney would have broad responsibility for government operations, and for avoiding the government shutdowns that the Freedom Caucus countenanced several times.

The move, which will raise eyebrows among those who expect an unprecedented fiscal expansion under Trump, pits Mulvaney, a true fiscal conservative, in charge of government spending, following repeated alarms about the long-term trajectory of the debt, even as annual deficits have fallen in recent years despite a recent sharp spike during the final months of the Obama administration.