WASHINGTON (CNN) - Wall Street veteran Stephen Friedman was named Thursday as President Bush's choice to replace Larry Lindsey as the administration's top economic adviser on the White House staff.

Stephen Friedman, left, named Thursday by President Bush as his top economic advisor.

Some conservatives tried to derail the nomination, but not enough to stop Friedman from being offered the job as chief of the National Economic Council, senior White House officials told CNN.

Friedman is a former Goldman Sachs (GS: Research, Estimates) co-chairman who is close to former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. He also is active in the Concord Coalition, a public policy group that focuses on spending restraints and balanced budgets.

Some so-called "pro-growth" conservatives have suggested Friedman might not be as enthusiastic about the administration's goals of more tax cuts, and activists such as Steve Moore of the Washington group called Club for Growth have publicly campaigned against giving Friedman the White House job.

"Steve Moore is about to have a bad day," one senior White House official told CNN Thursday afternoon before the appointment was announced.

At the announcement, Bush and Friedman both talked of the need for a pro-growth economic package. Bush talked of the need to "reduce the burden on our taxpayers." Friedman didn't specifically mention taxes, but he talked about reducing pressure on family budgets and savings and told the president, "I strongly share your conviction: Now is the time for a robust growth and jobs policy."

The administration stimulus package is expected to include an acceleration of some of the rate cuts included in the 10-year Bush tax cut enacted last year, and new provisions to encourage business investment. Friedman spoke of disappointing levels of business investment during his brief remarks Thursday.

Bush settled on Friedman more than a week ago but a formal announcement was delayed while White House lawyers reviewed Friedman's complicated financial portfolio. Sources also said Friedman consulted doctors to make certain a long-standing heart condition would not be adversely affected by serving on the senior White House staff.

The appointment almost complete rounds out a reshuffling of the Bush economic team. In the past week, the president has announced his intention to nominate CSX Corp. CEO John Snow to replace Paul O'Neill as treasury secretary and veteran Wall Street hand William Donaldson to replace Harvey Pitt as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The only high-profile economic position yet to be filled is a new head of an accounting industry oversight board. Controversy over the previous appointee to that position, William Webster, was a key factor in Pitt's election day resignation.

Unlike Snow and Donaldson, Friedman has not held a full-time government position during his career, although he served as member of the president's foreign intelligence advisory board as well as chairman of task force on modernizing financial management at the Pentagon.

Friedman also is the only one of the three appointments announced this week who does not need confirmation by the Senate. Friedman's job is analogous to that of the national security adviser -- serving as the coordinating point for information from a variety of government agencies and the sounding board for the president and other senior White House officials trying to sift through any conflicting information or advice.

White House officials reject the notion that Friedman has any major differences with the president on economic policy. They also portray him as someone with stature and credibility on Wall Street, something officials concede the administration was perceived to be lacking with O'Neill and Lindsey in top positions.

Democrats have seized on the shakeup as evidence, to them, that the Bush economic policy is a failure.

In a letter to the president Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said, "merely replacing Secretary O'Neill and Lindsey is not a solution. With our economy stalling, unemployment rising and confidence suffering, it is clear that we need more than new faces. We need a new plan to stimulate our economy now."

Daschle's letter said Democrats wanted any new economic stimulus package to "focus on middle class families rather than the wealthy," include tax incentives that encourage immediate investment in new equipment and production, and not significantly grow the federal budget deficit.