Office of Management and Budget Blog

Jeff Zients, Deputy Director for Management and Chief Performance Officer, announces the public launch of performance.gov, a site that provides a window into the Obama Administration's approach to improving Federal Government performance and accountability.

Steven VanRoekel, US Chief Information Officer, announces the a new memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget outlining key responsibilities and authorities for Agency CIOs to increase efficiency in federal information technology.

A key part of the recent deficit reduction agreement is that the approximately $1 trillion in discretionary cuts are spread across the security and non-security parts of the budget.

This year, federal workers submitted an incredible 19,559 ideas about how to make government more efficient and effective.

OMB Deputy Director for Management Jeff Zients announces the launch of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board, an initiative to help make government spending more efficient and more effective by increasing transparency and accountability.

The CBO releases its analysis of the debt ceiling extension and deficit reduction plan that the House of Representatives is considering. Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, discusses our opposition to this bill as the President explained in his address to the nation.

As part of the commitment to crack down on waste and ensure that every tax dollar is spent wisely, the Obama Administration is strengthening accountability by both reducing and improving the use of contracts.

The Office of Management and Budget’s communications shop joins the Twitterverse to give the American people insight into the work we do in 140 characters or less. Follow @OMBPress on Twitter.

For many years, the federal government has erroneously cut checks to the wrong person for the wrong amount and for the wrong reason – sometimes these misdirected payments even go to dead people or prisoners. These mistakes, though often inadvertent, contributed to the $125 billion in improper payments made in 2010.

In today’s Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer calls into question the integrity of the Social Security trust fund and the integrity of statements I have made recently about the program. Let’s examine his charges.

Making sure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted lies at the heart of the stewardship obligations we have as public servants. When the country is facing serious fiscal challenges as it is now, it becomes even more important that we take aggressive action to make sure government is effective and efficient. That is the thinking behind the President’s Accountable Government Initiative, and it is what is behind OMB’s Partnership Fund for Program Integrity Innovation. The Fund supports projects that bring all levels of government together to test creative ways to reduce red tape, cut improper payments, and improve how eligible beneficiaries receive services.

Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, lays out the priorities and responsibility of the President's Budget.

“Buying less” and “buying smarter” are simple ideas to understand, but history tells us that these basic principles of fiscal responsibility are not as easy to implement as one might think. Since 1997, and in 18 of the past 20 years, total spending by the federal government on contracts has increased – and at a near break-neck pace of 12 percent per year between 2000 and 2008. During this eight-year period, annual procurement budgets grew from $200 billion a year to more than $500 billion a year.