Results Caucus
As the chair of the Results Caucus, Congressman Sessions has sought to challenge Congress, Government Management, and employees to build a team aimed at returning to every American family one thousand dollars gained from curing problems of waste, fraud, and error. The Results Caucus was formed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey to address major management problems within the federal government. It represents a coalition of reform-minded members of Congress who share the common goal of realizing a smaller, smarter, common-sense government.
While long-standing management deficiencies plague many of the federal government’s programs and operations, very few specific recommendations for reform have been carried out.
The Results Caucus seeks to reverse this disturbing trend by recognizing specific deficiencies in federal bureaucratic operations and setting into motion realistic, tangible plans to truly change the way the federal government does business.
The Results Caucus works closely with the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate and identify federal programs and agencies where waste, fraud, and abuse exist. The Results Caucus works with the GAO to improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. The Results Caucus also examines the use of federal funds, measures the effectiveness of existing programs, identifies redundancy, and makes recommendations to the appropriate House Committees on these matters.
Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
In 2000, Congressman Sessions joined with other members of Congress and President Bush to create the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Designed to hold agencies accountable for achieving results and making government more effective, PART assesses the management and performance of Federal government programs and increases their accountability and effectiveness to provide the best value for taxpayers. The assessment consists of 25 common-sense questions designed to assess a program’s performance and management.
In September of 2007, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that PART has helped increase transparency and accountability in government programs. Over the past six years, more than 1000 programs, accounting for $2.6 trillion dollars in federal spending, have been assessed, and the latest results show that 78 percent of assessed programs are considered “performing,” up from 75 percent in 2006.
PART results, the evidence on which they are based, the results each program achieves, and the amount of money spend and requested for each program are all posted on ExpectMore.gov.