	The President’s Management Agenda Covers Many Areas Highlighted by GAO as Needing Attention

A number of areas on the President’s Management Agenda are  consistent with issues highlighted by our work on the High Risk Program,  our annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, and other  work related to long-standing management challenges. Examples of where the President’s Management Agenda and our work  are consistent include:
Using information technology (IT) to better manage for results. Addressing improper payments. Expanding strategic sourcing. OMB  has efforts underway to address this recommendation. Strengthening strategic human capital management. The President’s Management Agenda is  consistent with our findings and recommendations on improving the  Department of Defense’s (DOD) acquisition of weapon systems and  services, issues that have been on GAO’s High Risk List since the  1990s. DOD has made some progress in this area. Effective Implementation Is Essential to Successfully Addressing Issues on the Management Agenda

Lasting success in addressing the difficult and longstanding issues on the  President’s Management Agenda will hinge on effective implementation,  including sustained top leadership attention. GAO and OMB have agreed to hold a series of meetings on the issues on  GAO’s High Risk List. The purposes of these meetings are to discuss  progress achieved and specifically focus on actions that are needed to  fully address high-risk issues and ultimately remove them from the list. For example, the executive branch has taken a  number of steps to implement key provisions of GPRAMA. The Office of  Management and Budget (OMB) has developed cross-agency priority  goals, and agencies developed agency priority goals. Agency officials  reported that their agencies have assigned performance management  leadership roles and responsibilities to officials who generally participate  in performance management activities, including quarterly performance  reviews for agency priority goals. Further, OMB developed  Performance.gov, a government-wide website, which provides quarterly  updates on cross-agency priority goals and agency priority goals. Developing a Comprehensive Inventory of Federal Programs

Executive branch efforts to address crosscutting issues are hampered by  the lack of a comprehensive list of programs—a key requirement of the  act. OMB began implementing this provision by directing 24 large  federal agencies to develop and publish inventories of their programs in  May 2013. Enhancing the Use of Collaborative Mechanisms

Collaboration across agencies, levels of government, or sectors is  fundamental to addressing many high-risk issues and reducing  fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. Effective implementation could help identify and address fragmentation,  overlap, and duplication issues because as part of the strategic reviews,  agencies are to identify the various organizations, programs, regulations,  tax expenditures, policies, and other activities that contribute to each  objective both within and outside the agency. Improving the Government’s Capacity to Gather and Use Better Performance Information

Our annual reports on fragmentation, overlap and duplication have also  highlighted several instances in which executive branch agencies do not  collect necessary performance data. Three major  impediments prevented us from rendering an opinion on the federal  government’s accrual-based consolidated financial statements:  serious financial management problems at DOD that have prevented its  financial statements from being auditable — about 33 percent of the  federal government’s reported total assets as of September 30, 2013, and  approximately 16 percent of the federal government’s reported net cost  for fiscal year 2013 relate to DOD, which received a disclaimer of opinion  on its consolidated financial statements,  the federal government’s inability to adequately account for and reconcile  intragovernmental activity and balances between federal entities, and  the federal government’s ineffective process for preparing the  consolidated financial statements. In addition to financial management and widespread fragmentation,  overlap, and duplication issues, the federal government must address  pressing challenges with its cybersecurity. We have reported that (1) cyber  threats to systems supporting government operations and critical  infrastructure were evolving and growing, (2) cyber incidents affecting  computer systems and networks continue to rise, and (3) the federal  government continues to face challenges in a number of key aspects of  its approach to cybersecurity, including those related to protecting the  nation’s critical infrastructure.
Why GAO Did This Study

The federal government is one of the world's largest and most diverse entities, with about $3.5 trillion in outlays in fiscal year 2013, funding an extensive array of programs and operations. Moreover, it faces a number of significant fiscal, management, and governance challenges in responding to the varied and increasingly complex issues it seeks to address.
This statement focuses on (1) GAO's work related to the President's Management Agenda, and (2) additional opportunities for decision makers to address major management challenges.
This statement is primarily based upon our published and ongoing work covering GAO's High Risk List; fragmentation, overlap, and duplication reports; and managing for results work. The work upon which these published reports and preliminary findings were based was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
GAO has made numerous recommendations to OMB and executive branch agencies in these areas and reports in this statement on the status of selected key recommendations.

What GAO Found

A number of areas on the President's Management Agenda are consistent with issues highlighted by GAO's work on the High Risk Program, its annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, and other work related to long-standing management challenges. These include, for example: using information technology to better manage for results; addressing improper payments; expanding strategic sourcing; strengthening strategic human capital management; and improving the Department of Defense's weapon systems and services acquisitions. Lasting success in addressing the difficult and longstanding issues on the Presidents Management Agenda will hinge on effective implementation, including sustained top leadership attention. GAO and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have agreed to hold a series of high level meetings on the issues on GAO's High Risk List to discuss progress and actions that are needed to fully address high-risk issues. Further, the executive branch has taken a number of steps to implement key provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act by developing cross-agency and agency priority goals; assigning performance management roles and responsibilities to leadership; conducting agency quarterly performance reviews; and developing Performance.gov, a website that provides quarterly updates on the priority goals.
However, additional opportunities exist for decision makers to address major performance management challenges, including, for example:
Developing a comprehensive inventory of federal programs. GAO's preliminary review of the program inventories produced by 24 large federal agencies identified concerns about the usefulness of the information provided in these inventories for addressing crosscutting issues.
Enhancing the use of collaborative mechanisms. Addressing many of the challenges government faces requires collaboration across agencies, levels of government, or sectors. Yet the mechanisms the federal government uses to collaborate do not always operate effectively.
Effectively implementing strategic reviews . Starting in 2014, agency leaders are to annually assess how relevant organizations, programs, and activities, both within and outside of their agencies, are contributing to progress on their strategic objectives and identify corrective actions where progress is lagging. Such reviews could help address fragmentation, overlap, and duplication issues.
Improving capacity to gather and use better performance information . GAO's work has found that federal decision makers often lack complete and reliable performance data needed to address the government's management challenges.
Furthermore, the administration needs to accelerate progress in (1) addressing major impediments preventing GAO from rendering an opinion on the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements and risks to the government's future financial condition; (2) elevating top leadership attention to the areas identified in our annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication; and (3) responding to pressing challenges with its cybersecurity, such as evolving cyber threats to systems supporting government operations and critical infrastructure. Congress also has key roles in addressing each of these issues.