WASHINGTON - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt now has his full Utah team in place with the Senate confirmation of Charlie Johnson as assistant secretary over the department's $650 billion budget. Johnson - who served as chairman of Utah's Board of Regents, vice president of Huntsman LLC and as a former chief of staff to then-Utah governor Leavitt - will head the office of Budget, Technology, and Finance at HHS. He won confirmation of the Senate on Friday following an April nomination by President Bush. Johnson joins another Leavitt chief of staff, Rich McKeown - who now directs the staff of HHS - and Leavitt's former spokeswoman Natalie Gochnour, who is senior counsel to the secretary. The three followed Leavitt when he ran the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and have subsequently moved to HHS. Leavitt also brought along Allyson Bell, his director of scheduling, and Alayne Peterson, his long-term personal assistant, from their previous service in his terms as governor. Johnson says he's thrilled to be in the new position, even with the daunting $650 billion budget. "It's a very exciting area," Johnson said. "I feel . . . my work in the state government has given me a background so I can represent the states and represent the taxpayers." - Thomas Burr