White House waste-cutting campaign draws mixed response from agencies
August 1st, 2012 | 2013 Budget OMB | Posted by Sean Reilly
SAN DIEGO| It’s been more than a year since President Obama formally kicked off the “Campaign to Cut Waste” in a June 2011 executive order. Some agencies, though, seem to be taking the charge to reduce administrative costs more seriously than others, a newly released survey of chief financial officers and other federal financial managers indicates.
Although 45 percent of respondents said they have been getting “good results” from the campaign, almost as many (44 percent) said they had little to report, were just getting started, had laid plans to start, or (uh-oh) hadn’t done anything, according to the unscientific survey, sponsored by the Association of Government Accountants and consulting firm Grant Thornton. The report on the findings was released this week at AGA’s professional development conference here.
“We’ve spent more on meetings about the Campaign to Cut Waste than we’ve actually saved from cutting waste,” one unnamed CFO is quoting as saying.
Given that the campaign has now been under way for some time, the report labels the results “a little surprising,” Part of the explanation, it says, may lie in the fact that the effort is “an ongoing, evolving exercise rather than a one-shot drill.”
Through fiscal 2013, the White House wants to save a total of about $8 billion on administrative spending in comparison with FY10 levels, according to figures in its latest budget request.
Danny Werfel, controller for the Office of Management and Budget, said yesterday that he had not seen the results, but added that agency reports show the campaign is “making very critical progress” toward the $8 billion goal.
“We are, from a macro standpoint, where we need to be,” Werfel said. He acknowledged the likelihood, however, that some agencies are “kicking on all cylinders,” while others are just getting started.
The survey is based on in-person interviews with 115 CFOs, deputy CFOs and other senior federal financial management officials, including OMB staff, the report says. The results also reflect input from more than 200 online interviews with AGA members who indicated that they work for the federal government.
Tags: Association of Government Accountants, Campaign to Cut Waste, Danny Werfel, Grant Thornton, Obama, Office of Management and Budget
Stop Swag
November 9th, 2011 | Uncategorized White House | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
In opening my emails every morning I’m accustomed to a plethora of press releases. Today the release that caught my eye was the announcement of President Obama signing an executive order to cut federal agency travel, printing and IT costs.
However it wasn’t the “news” in the release that has me blogging. It’s the use of the word swag. Sports reporters have been using the word for months now. There is no doubt that you will hear swag used if you tune into ESPN’s SportsCenter. But I didn’t expect the White House to jump on the bandwagon.
screen shot from WH press release
Is it just me or does the word swag bother anyone else? And the fact that the White House used it in an official press release.
Tags: cuts, executive order, Obama, swag, White House
Cabinet maker
November 19th, 2008 | Agencies Agency Management | Posted by Steve Watkins
President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday on CBS’s “Sixty Minutes” he would start making Cabinet picks “soon.” Soon it is. In just the three days since that interview aired, several names have been reported as likely candidates for key administration posts:
- Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office, to be director of the Office of Management and Budget.
- Eric Holder Jr., former number two at the Justice Department, to be Attorny General.
- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to be secretary of State, although it is still unclear whether Obama has actually offered the job to her, even after conflict-of-interest issues concerning her husband Bill reportedly were worked out between Bill and Obama’s transition team.
- And just revealed today: former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle to become head of the Health and Human Services Department.
Soon means soon.
Tell us what you think of these picks. Would you suggest others?
Tags: HHS, Obama, OMB, State, Transition