Federal Daily - July 29, 2008

GAO: Level of Results-Oriented Management Unchanged

Despite a decade-long effort to make the management of federal work activities more results-oriented, federal managers still don’t integrate performance measures into their decision-making, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last week. Over the past decade, there has been improvement in the capacity of the federal government to manage for results, said the report, delivered as testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. This capacity includes an infrastructure of outcome-oriented strategic plans, performance measures and accountability reporting that has significantly increased, said the report—which included a 2007 survey of federal managers at the GS-13 level and above. Nonetheless, the actual level of results–oriented management has remained static. In its report, GAO offered suggestions to the next administration on how to further encourage results-oriented government. First off, managers must be brought aboard, the report said. “Our surveys show that, while significantly more federal managers’ have performance measures for their programs, overall the use of performance information in management decision making has not changed over the last 10 years,” the report said. The next administration should demonstrate a leadership commitment to results-oriented management; develop a clear “line of sight” linking individual performance with organizational results; and build agency capacity to collect and use performance information, the report said. To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d081026thigh.pdf or for the report, www.gao.gov/special.pubs/gao-08-1036sp.

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DCAA Seeks Review by DoD IG

The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) on July 25 announced it was seeking a DoD Inspector General (DoDIG) review to look into allegations that its auditors were pressured into making changes to unfavorable reports on major contracts. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week released a scathing report citing examples where pressure by contractors and senior agency auditors led to changes in initial audit reports. According to the GAO report, senior auditors also hid contractor over-billing and attempted to hinder an investigation into the alleged problems. GAO also noted that DCAA supervisors at two locations tried to intimidate staff and block investigators during the probe through threats of disciplinary action and other punishments. In addition to asking for a DoD IG review, DCAA leaders have initiated an agency-wide reinforcement of professional expectations and assembled a team to conduct its own internal assessment. “We take the GAO report very seriously,” said April Stephenson, DCAA director. “It is crucial that we have a clear understanding of any problems associated with our audit effort. It is imperative that our agency is not only held to the highest professional standards, but also appears to be beyond reproach.”  To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12097.

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Lawmakers Call for End to VA Voter Registration Ban

Senior lawmakers have added their voices to the call for Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary James Peake to reverse a ban that prohibits VA offices and facilities from allowing on-site voter registration services. Reps. Robert  Brady, D-Pa., chairman of the House Administration Committee, and Bob Filner, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, on July 23 wrote a letter to Peake, asking him to vacate a ban that prohibits non-partisan voter registration drives at VA facilities. The lawmakers join an effort by coalition of voting rights groups which last week also asked Peake to lift the ban. Recently, a bipartisan group of secretaries of state from more than 20 states issued a letter calling for VA to reconsider the directive. Brady and Filner encouraged VA to reexamine its reasoning for prohibiting VA voter registration drives and plan to introduce legislation that would require Peake to permit states to designate VA facilities as voter registration agencies.  “The right to vote is the foundation for our democracy and this right has been courageously protected by our veterans,” said Filner. The ruling “may hinder injured and aging veterans from receiving voter registration services altogether.” To see more, go to: http://cha.house.gov/view_press_release.aspx?r=20080725152419.

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