President Barack Obama issued an executive order today that bans federal employees from using their cell phones, BlackBerries or other electronic devices to send or receive text messages, read e-mails or perform other electronic tasks while driving .

The order applies to employees behind the wheel of government owned or leased vehicles or those driving their own vehicles while on government business. Agencies also were instructed to encourage federal contractors to enforce similar polices on their own workforces.

Obama issued the order to coincide with a Washington summit organized by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the dangers of text messaging and other distractions while driving.

The number of crashes attributed to distracted drivers nationally has risen during the past five years, even though the number of crashes overall has dropped, and accounted for 16 percent of crashes and fatalities in 2008, Transportation statistics show.

Federal employees have submitted more than 10,000 money-saving tips to the Office of Management and Budget’s SAVE Award contest in the last week, OMB director Peter Orszag announced today.

OMB launched the SAVE Award contest on Sept. 23 to gather cost-cutting and performance-improving ideas from the people who know government best: the employees.

So far, you have responded with 10,266 entries. And that number is growing as we speak.

If you haven’t submitted an idea yet, don’t delay. The contest ends on Oct. 14. You can enter at www.SaveAward.gov.

Once submissions close, an OMB panel will review the ideas and select a handful of finalists for President Barack Obama to choose from. The winning idea, which will be announced in November, will be included in the 2011 budget. The idea’s author will also get to meet Obama, the man with whom the buck stops.

Photo: Wikipedia.

OMB Director Peter Orszag launched the “OMB Pedometer Challenge” today to improve employee health by having everyone wear a pedometer to track their physical activity throughout the day.

Employees will enter their daily steps on an internal Web site and compare their activity levels to Orszag’s activity levels and their division’s levels. They’ll also be able to enter health statistics like body mass index, blood pressure and heart rate to help track improvements in their health.

The employee with the highest activity level each month wins lunch with Orszag and the highest performing team wins a “health happy hour.” Free lunch and/or a free happy hour? That’s inspiration enough for me.

Orszag said:

This challenge will make all of us more aware of our current activity levels and help inspire us to increase our physical activity. Evidence shows that pedometers are one of the most cost-effective ways to increase physical activity. And in true OMB fashion, we like to walk down the path cleared by the best data.”

The challenge is part of a larger effort to improve the health and productivity of the federal workforce, while reducing health care and disability costs, OMB said in the news release.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality is working with several agencies to draft the new presidential directive, council chairwoman Nancy Sutley said during an Earth Day event at the State Department. Sutley did not say when the order will be issued.

Existing laws and executive orders already require agencies to cut their energy and water consumption, increase their use of renewable energy, purchase environmentally preferable products and buy alternative fuel vehicles. Sutley said the new order will go even further.

The order will closely integrate federal greening actions and set new goals for energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, the purchase of fuel-efficient cars, water conservation and encourage overall sustainability.

For those of you who read your Federal Times closely each week, Sutley’s comments should come as no surprise. We reported this week that the administration was reviewing all existing goals to determine which ones should be updated, modified or otherwise revised to meet the Obama administration’s green government commitments.

• Shaun Donovan to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• Ray LaHood to be Secretary of Transportation.

In other confirmation news:

• Susan Rice, Obama’s choice for U.N. ambassador, was approved.
• Nancy Sutley was confirmed as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
• And finally, Lisa Jackson was given the green light to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, after Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., lifted his objection to a vote by unanimous consent.

According to this Associated Press report, President Obama said he’s instituting a pay freeze for the roughly 100 White House employees who make more than $100,000 a year. The move is a direct response to the economic crisis gripping the nation.

In another move, Obama issued new rules that attempt to crack down on lobbyists influencing the administration. The rules restrict political appointees who leave the administration from lobbying former friends and colleagues for at least two years and ban those coming on board from working on matters they previously lobbied on or approaching agencies they once targeted. In addition, no member of the administration will be allowed to accept gifts of any size from lobbyists. And all staff members must attend an ethics briefing.

And in an effort to improve government transparency, Obama said he would be directing agencies to change how they respond to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. The new standard will require agencies to err on the side of making information public, rather than using legal arguments to restrict access to requested documents.

In remarks to his Cabinet secretaries and senior staff gathered at the Old Executive Office Building, Obama said his actions were “aimed at establishing firm rules of the road for my administration and all who serve in it” and to help restore faith in government.

The executive orders and directives I’m issuing today will not by themselves make government as honest and transparent as it needs to be.  And they do not go as far as we need to go towards restoring accountability and fiscal restraint in Washington.  But these historic measures do mark the beginning of a new era of openness in our country.  And I will, I hope, do something to make government trustworthy in the eyes of the American people in the days and weeks, months and years to come.  That’s a pretty good place to start.

So what do you think? Is the new president sending the right message on how his administration is going to do things differently?

The National Journal is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama will name Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The OMB director will play a crucial role in the Obama administration, which inherits a $10 billion national debt and an annual deficit approaching $1 trillion. He will also be responsible for putting together Obama’s 2010 budget — and trying to push the 2009 budget through Congress before the current continuing resolution ends on March 6.

Orszag has been at CBO for about two years; he was an economic adviser to Bill Clinton during his administration.

But hundreds of career and political employees who work at the Executive Office of the President gave Bush a rousing reception yesterday on the South Lawn of the White House. Flanked by his Cabinet and joined by First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Cheney and Cheney’s wife Lynne, Bush congratulated Barack Obama for winning the election and urged federal employees to make the transition to a new administration as smooth as possible.

Joking about his graying hair and First Dog Barney’s romps on the South Lawn, President Bush seemed at ease. He took time to shake hands with employees and even hug a few.

But he also said he intended to keep working for the American people right up until he hands over the keys to the White House on Jan. 20, and he encouraged federal employees to do the same.

As January 20th draws near, some of you may be anxious about finding a new job, or a new place to live. I know how you feel. But between now and then, we must keep our attention on the task at hand — because the American people expect no less. Earlier this year, I promised that I would sprint to the finish. I am keeping that promise, and I know I have given some of you a good workout along the way. As we head into this final stretch, I ask you to remain focused on the goals ahead. I will be honored to stand with you at the finish line.

The stoplight-style scorecard, which may or may not survive transition to the new president, has an abundance of green these days, indicating success in achieving President Bush’s management priorities. According to the scorecard, agencies did very well at achieving their human capital and performance improvement goals this quarter. Commercial services management, e-gov, and financial performance were a bit tougher for agencies with 12 of the 24 graded agencies earning a red score for one or more of those initiatives.

But that is significantly less red, indicating failure, than was seen when the scorecard was introduced in 2002.

Enjoy the latest scorecard here and feel free to reminisce about this and previous quarters in the comments section below.

P.S. Birdies tell us you can expect to see one more scorecard from OMB before the Bush Administration turns out the lights on Jan. 20.