OMB

The federal government’s chief performance officer, Jeff Zients, declared at a recent Senate hearing: “The test of a performance management system is whether it is used.” He thought federal agencies were failing the test.

OMB released a report today, “Acquisition and Contracting Improvement Plans and Pilots: Saving Money and Improving Government,” which follows up on its July 2009 directive that agencies trim 7 percent – about $40 billion -- from their contracting budgets over the next two years by improving their buying processes.

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) was enacted in 1993 to bring about a greater focus on results in the federal government. GPRA's requirements have built a strong foundation for results-oriented performance planning, measurement, and reporting.

The Senate confirmed Dan Gordon as the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget. He comes highly recommended by Steve Kelman, a former holder of this job who was acclaimed as an innovator.

OMB Chief Performance Office Jeff Zients testified today before the Senate Budget Committee’s new Task Force on Government Performance. He laid out a set of five key principles OMB will follow in developing a governmentwide performance management system.

OMB yesterday released its latest guidance on federal acquisition. This new guidance, Increasing Competition and Structuring Contracts for the Best Results, provides guidelines for agencies to move to more competitive and lower risk types of contracts, along with semi-annual reports on progress.

WFED’s Jason Miller reports that the Office of Management and Budget wants to change its stripes and “move away from command and control toward a focus on collaboration.”

The Obama Administration is stepping up its efforts to solicit ideas from employees. In its first big effort, the SAVE Award (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency), the Office of Management and Budget encouraged employees to submit cost savings ideas. As of the end of the 6-week long contest period, OMB said it had received 38,400 ideas.

There has been flood of memos and guidance on procurement reform coming out of the White House and OMB in recent months. But an open call for ideas was launched earlier this month via a collaborative project being undertaken by the General Service Administration, the National Academy of Public Administration, and a joint government/industry group called the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Council.

Jeff Liebman is the Obama Administration’s point person for its efforts to cut service contract spending by 7 percent – about $40 billion a year – in part by insourcing work that has been outsourced to conractors, according to Federal Times’ Elise Castelli. Liebman is an executive associate director at the Office of Management and Budget.