OMB News 
Top News
- Sequestration, budget cuts taking its toll on DoD
- Small companies won't feel effect of lowered contractor pay cap
- GSA trying innovative approaches to disposing of real property
- IRS draws new criticism over $70M employee bonuses
- VA identifying project managers, then improving their skills
- OMB sets new deadlines to improve data on USASpending.gov
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- BRAC-like commission proposed to hunt down government cost savings
- Sequestration claims another conference: DHS' GFirst cyber event
- Postal Service closing Capitol Hill post offices in 'symbolic' move
- Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet
- Fed pens new furlough song
- Web guru Dorris brings new life to government websites
- EPA CIO Jackson returning to private sector
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
OMB hangs hopes on new tools to cut $50B in improper payments
The Treasury Department and Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board are preparing to expand the use of new software and analytical applications this year. OMB Controller Danny Werfel said agency progress is coming along, but needs help from Congress to make it easier to share information among agencies.
An expert view of federal procurement policy
George Washington University Law School professor Steve Schooner joins host Roger Waldron to talk about the top procurement issues.
February 7, 2012(Encore presentation February 14, 2012)
House approves 'civilian BRAC' bill
The House has passed a bill that would set up a commission to help decide which unused buildings the government can dispose of.
Senators ask OMB to intervene in retirement backlog
A new letter, signed by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), calls on the Office of Management and Budget to take on the "urgent matter" of processing federal retirements. The letter comes a week after a Senate subcommittee hearing in which the Office of Personnel Management was taken to task for its handling of the longstanding backlog.
Obama to nominate former SBA official Jordan to head OFPP
President Barack Obama announced Friday his plans to nominate Joseph Jordan, a former Small Business Administration official, to head the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.
OMB gives more details on agency consolidation plan
President Barack Obama will send Congress a bill in the coming weeks to reinstate the president's authority to consolidate agencies, said Lisa Brown, the Office of Management and Budget executive leading the government reform effort. She said the bill would require proposals to "reduce the number of agencies or save costs."
Survey: PIOs slowly creating a performance culture
An exclusive Federal News Radio online survey of federal PIOs finds agencies are using performance to improve their missions, but more than half of the Performance Improvement Officers wear multiple hats. Respondents also said they have strong support from their superiors and their agency is committed culturally to improve performance. Shelley Metzenbaum, the Office of Management and Budget's associate director for performance and personnel (pictured) said success in performance improvement across agencies has taken off recently. "This is not just being driven by OMB, but it is really being owned by the agencies," she said.
OFPP again calls on Congress to cap vendor salary reimbursements
The White House wants to reduce the amount of money agencies pay contractors for executive salaries to $200,000 from $694,000.
How to combat insider fraud at agencies
Linda Springer, a former controller at the Office of Management and Budget, joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss what steps agencies should take to detect and root out insider fraud.
Wide range of construction to fall under streamlined permitting efforts
Marco Giamberardino, senior director of the Federal and Heavy Construction Division at the Associated General Contractors of America, discusses the administration's efforts to streamline the federal permitting process.
White House delays release of 2013 budget
The White House is delaying for one week the release of President Barack Obama's budget for the 2013 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
VanRoekel helping Congress grasp benefits of cloud
The federal CIO said he's not concerned that the administration's cloud initiative will fall victim to the same types of roadblocks lawmakers set out for e-government seven years ago. VanRoekel said members of Congress need data on the value cloud computing brings. He also said vendor management organizations and mobile computing are among his short term priorities.
Bill takes federal plain language requirements a step further
Agencies already are under the gun to put their public communications into plain language. A congressman behind the original effort now wants to get rid of government jargon in federal regulations.
OMB to expand permit-tracking initiative
President Obama told the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Tuesday the administration would create performance metrics, track progress and adapt best practices for reducing the red tape for businesses.
Obama to name Zients acting OMB director
The White House has announced Jeffrey Zients will serve as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget when current director Jack Lew steps down next month to become White House chief of staff.
CIOs influence growing around mission, budget, survey finds
More than half of the CIOs and deputy CIOs who responded to an exclusive online Federal News Radio survey about their 2012 priorities said the recent Office of Management and Budget memo giving them oversight over commodity IT spending either will improve how they manage IT spending or codifies their existing authorities. More than two-thirds of the respondents said their agency's senior decision-makers value their input and 80 percent said those same leaders understand the value information technology brings to the mission.
Analysis: White House reorg plan could leave out agencies' functions
The White House is taking a new step toward reducing duplicative government programs and reorganizing agencies. John Kamensky of the IBM Center for the Business of Government and Ira Shapiro, an international trade lawyer, give analysis on the recent administration proposals.
OMB attacking duplication with 11-agency pilot
A new memo from the White House requires agencies involved in trade, exporting or competitiveness to develop an inventory and map them to programmatic and organizational structures and strategic plans. The test initiative will help inform a governmentwide effort to reduce the number of redundant programs across the government.
VanRoekel puts mobile strategy on fast track
The federal CIO said the final document should be available by early April. Steven VanRoekel also wants to give agencies new contracts for devices and services within the next 180 days. Industry will be expected to provide answers to a series of questions about standards, security and privacy.
White House concerned over online piracy bills
The Obama administration expressed concerns over bills it says would undermine "the dynamic, innovative global Internet."
