Office of Management and Budget Blog

The President’s announcement today of Tony Scott as the next United States Chief Information Officer is an important opportunity for our Nation. With the radical evolution of information technology (IT), the Federal Government has unprecedented opportunity to enhance how we deliver services to the American people and spark greater innovation in the digital age.

The United States is committing $1 billion over four years to GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance. Created in 2000, GAVI has brought together public- and private-sector partners to immunize 500 million children, saving an estimated 7 million lives in the world’s poorest countries

Today, we are building on a long history of innovation and collaboration on digital technologies with the United Kingdom. The President and Prime Minister Cameron just announced a commitment to strengthen and expand the ongoing digital partnership between our two countries.

The House will vote today on a resolution requiring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to adopt a practice known as “dynamic scoring,” which would change how the Congress calculates the expected cost of a piece of legislation. Current rules require calculating a policy’s direct cost to the government, which includes looking at how affected individuals and firms would react to the policy.

Today, the Administration is implementing measures to significantly overhaul and strengthen Federal grant-making regulations to improve outcomes for the American people. The culmination of a three-year collaborative effort across Federal agencies, the rule released today by the cross-agency Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR) will effectively implement OMB guidance on grant-making across Federal agencies. These measures will reduce the total volume of financial management regulations for Federal grants and other assistance by 75%, and reduce administrative burdens and risk of waste, fraud, and abuse for the approximately $600 billion in Federal grants expended annually.

President Obama honors the incredible innovation, energy, and commitment of the senior leaders of America’s federal workforce.

This Administration has made significant progress on strengthening Federal acquisition practices, reducing red-tape, and providing greater benefit for taxpayer dollars. Executive departments and agencies have cut contracts that are no longer necessary or affordable, – resulting in over $55 billion in savings in just FY 2013 alone – launched new efforts to pool the Government’s buying power through strategic sourcing, and implemented other smart buying strategies to deliver better value for the American people.

In a rapidly changing technological environment, we must have robust procedures, policies, and systems in place to protect our nation’s most sensitive information. Growing cybersecurity threats make it ever more important for the Federal government to maintain comprehensive information security controls to assess and mitigate emerging risks. That is why today, the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with our partners at the National Security Council (NSC) staff and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is releasing annual guidance to agencies on improving the security of Federal information and networks, in accordance with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002.

On December 26, 2013, OMB published final guidance in 2 C.F.R 200 titled Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Federal financial assistance. This guidance delivers on President Obama’s second term management agenda and his first term directives under Executive Order 13520, the February 28, 2011 Presidential Memorandum, and the objectives laid out in OMB Memorandum M-13-17 to better target financial risks and better direct resources to achieve evidence-based outcomes. The policy simultaneously improves performance, transparency, and oversight for Federal awards.

Today marks one year since the senseless acts of violence at Washington Navy Yard. After the events last fall, the President directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a 120-day review of Federal employee suitability and contractor fitness determinations as well as security clearance procedures. As Deputy Director for Management, and chair of the inter-agency Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability Council, taking the lead on these efforts was one of the first things I did upon arriving at OMB. The inter-agency team, comprised of members from across the Federal spectrum, engaged in an intensive review effort to assess risks and vulnerabilities inherent in current security, suitability, and credentialing processes, and identified actionable solutions.

The new U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Joint Forward Plan represents a significant pivot point for our regulatory cooperation relationships with Canada, and outlines new federal agency-level partnership arrangements to help institutionalize the way our regulators work together.

Last week, the White House announced the launch of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), a new team of America’s best digital experts dedicated to improving and simplifying the digital experience that people and businesses have with their government. The USDS team has already begun to make progress by releasing the TechFAR Handbook, a guide that helps explain how Federal agencies can take advantage of existing procurement authorities to execute key plays in the Digital Services Playbook.

The Administration is launching the U.S. Digital Service -- a small team made up of our country’s brightest digital talent that will work with agencies to remove barriers to exceptional service delivery and help remake the digital experience that people and businesses have with their government.

OMB today released the 2015 Mid-Session Review (MSR), which updates the Administration’s estimates for outlays, receipts, and the deficit in light of economic, legislative, and other developments that occurred since the release of the President’s 2015 Budget in March.