Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients wants to know how you’d improve the government’s IT systems. Obama administration officials, led by federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, met Jan. 14 with CEOs of companies such as United Airlines and Weyerhaeuser to discuss how to better employ technology to make agencies more efficient and responsive. Zients posted summaries of the executives’ recommendations on his Office of Management and Budget blog and invites readers to comment on the suggestions. Some of the recommendations include: Agencies should serve customers through their preferred channels, such as self-service online. Agencies should keep IT projects from…
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In case you haven’t heard, White House budget director Peter Orszag’s home life just got a lot more complicated. For the appropriate — and always tasteful — analysis on Orszag’s “magnetic machismo,” we turn it over to Jon Stewart and his crack staff at the Daily Show. [HTML1]
While Nancy Fitchner’s SAVE Award winning idea to let veterans take home their unused prescriptions from Veterans Affairs Department hospitals will be the one included in the 2011 budget, that doesn’t mean the Office of Management and Budget is ignoring the 38,000 other ideas that were submitted to its first SAVE Award contest. On the same day Fitchner was honored at the White House, OMB Director Peter Orszag told agencies to adopt some “common sense ideas” that were submitted and can be implemented without congressional action. In a Dec. 21 memo, Orszag said in the short run agencies should: Make…
Congratulations to Nancy Fichtner, a Veterans Affairs Department employee from Colorado, for winning the first ever SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award contest. Her money saving idea: Allow veterans to take home the medications they use while at the hospital, instead of tossing the prescriptions in the trash when veterans are discharged. The idea would not only save the government money, but veterans too. Fichtner’s idea beat out 38,000 other ideas submitted by fellow federal employees in the contest designed to harness the experience of frontline employees to save the government money. Her idea was one of four finalists…
Congratulations to the four finalists in the Office of Management and Budget’s first SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award. OMB staff narrowed down the 38,000 entries received between Sept. 23 and Oct. 14 to the following four: Allow citizens to make Social Security appointments online This idea came from Christie Dickson, who works for the Social Security Administration in Alabama. Allowing online appointment scheduling will free up Social Security staff to handle other inquiries on the phone, Dickson told OMB. Approximately two-thirds of Social Security phone calls she receives are for appointments, and it would save time for both…
The Senate confirmed Daniel Gordon as administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Nov. 21. Senators confirmed Gordon by voice vote during a break in work on the Senate’s health care bill.
Two critical federal leadership positions may soon be filled. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has unanimously approved Erroll Southers as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and Daniel Gordon as administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. The committee approved both nominations by voice vote Nov. 19. It’s unclear whether the Senate will vote on these, or any other nominations, before it recesses sometime next week for Thanksgiving. Both nominees are considered non controversial.
Contractors could face suspension, debarment or financial penalties if they fail to return and report an improper payment made by the government…even if the improper payment is the government’s fault. That’s what an executive order meant to curb the government’s rate of erroneous payments will say, Peter Orszag, Office of Management and Budget director, told reporters during a Nov. 17 briefing on the value of improper payments made by the government in 2009. Currently, contractors face no penalties when the government discovers an improper payment was made. All contractors have to do is pay back the sum without interest or…
The Office of Management and Budget’s prospective procurement policy chief, Daniel Gordon, will face his first confirmation hurdle one week from today. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will quiz Gordon on his vision for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at 10 a.m. on Nov. 10. Gordon is slated to have his confirmation quiz alongside the president’s choice to lead the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers. Check in with FedLine and FederalTimes.com that day for complete coverage.
UPDATE: OMB says the definition of inherently governmental functions is still being worked on. Expect to hear something by the end of the year. The Office of Management and Budget just released two long-awaited procurement reform memos. The first is about increasing competition while reducing risk in contracting. The second is about strategic planning for the civilian agency acquisition workforce. So far no word on a A third piece of expected guidance meant to clarify the definition of inherently governmental functions was not released today as expected [see update above]. That memo will help agencies carry out earlier guidance to…