Kevyn Orr is Detroit’s new emergency financial manager

Kevyn Orr, a bankruptcy attorney and partner at the law firm Jones Day in Washington, DC, is Detroit's new emergency financial manager, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The 54-year-old Snyder previously helped steer Chrysler through a government-backed bankruptcy, Agence France-Presse reported.

"He's one of the leading experts in the country," Gov. Snyder said during a press conference in Detroit today with Orr and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing by his side, according to the Wall Street Journal. "I think we should be very pleased that we got someone of his high caliber to come take this position."

Snyder told the Wall Street Journal that he considers the job "the Olympics of restructuring."

According to CNN Money:

He can throw out contracts with public employee unions and vendors that the city can't afford, and he can make further cutbacks in already depleted city services if he decides they city can't afford them.

At the press conference, Orr said he’s hopeful the city’s restructuring can be done without filing for municipal bankruptcy, but noted it remains a possibility, CNN Money reported. “Everything is on the table,” he said.

Orr is an African American Democrat who grew up in Michigan, which could neutralize some of the criticism Snyder, a white Republican, attracted in launching a government takeover of a mostly black and Democratic city, Agence France-Presse reported.

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