Agency priority goal leaders GAO interviewed were generally highly-placed within their agencies—for example, several were heads of agencies—and reported a range of responsibilities related to managing agency priority goals (APG), such as laying out goal strategies. A majority of the goal leaders said the goal leader designation had benefits for their APGs, such as greater visibility for the go...

CAP Goal Progress. The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to coordinate with agencies to: (1) establish outcome-oriented, federal government priority goals (known as cross-agency priority, or CAP, goals) with annual and quarterly performance targets and milestones; and (2) report quarterly on a single website now known as Performance.gov the...

The executive branch has taken a number of steps to implement key provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act (the act). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed interim cross-agency priority (CAP) goals, and agencies developed agency priority goals (APG). Agency officials reported that their agencies have assigned performance management leadership roles and responsibilities to officials w...

The designation of senior-level officials to key performance management roles with responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) has helped elevate accountability for performance management within federal agencies and ensure high-level involvement, according to officials GAO interviewed. The 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies have...

Agencies across the federal government are embarking on large-scale organizational transformations to address 21st century challenges. One proposed approach to address systemic federal governance and management challenges involves the creation of a senior-level position--a chief operating officer (COO)/chief management officer (CMO)--in selected federal agencies to help elevate, integrate, and ins...

The Department of Defense (DOD) has implemented some statutory requirements in section 911 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, enacted in December 2016, to address organizational challenges. However, senior leadership has not implemented several requirements intended to support cross-functional teams and promote department-wide collaboration (see table).Stat...

GAO's prior work and Social Security Administration's (SSA) strategic plan for fiscal years 2018-2022 highlight significant demographic and technological challenges facing the agency. For example, SSA's workloads are increasing due to 80 million baby boomers entering their disability-prone and retirement years, and institutional knowledge and leadership at SSA will be depleted due to an expected 2...

In a 2017 government-wide survey, GAO found that most federal managers lack recent evaluations of their programs. Forty percent reported that an evaluation had been completed within the past 5 years of any program, operation, or project they were involved in. Another 39 percent of managers reported that they did not know if an evaluation had been completed, and 18 percent reported having none. Man...

The Army relies extensively on contracting operations to execute its missions—in fiscal year 2016 alone, it obligated over $74 billion through contracts. We reviewed the Army's contracting operations and found that senior leaders haven't consistently evaluated contracting effectiveness and efficiency. Instead, they have primarily focused on efforts to obligate funds before they expire. We recom...

DOD space systems (e.g., satellites) support the military and others with a wide range of critical capabilities, including meteorology, missile warning, and secure communications. But when it comes to acquiring these systems, DOD has historically struggled with ballooning costs, schedule overruns, and fragmented leadership. This testimony provides a snapshot of the status of DOD space acquisitio...

Effective oversight of offshore oil and gas development is critical to preventing another Deepwater Horizon-type disaster. However, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has struggled to successfully implement key initiatives to improve offshore oversight. For example, a risk-based facility inspection initiative was halted due to concerns about its useful...

Effective oversight of offshore oil and gas development is critical to preventing another Deepwater Horizon-type disaster. However, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has struggled to successfully implement key initiatives to improve offshore oversight. For example, a risk-based facility inspection initiative was halted due to concerns about its useful...

GAO found that the Department of Defense (DOD) has established a process for implementing the recommendations made in two nuclear enterprise reviews the Secretary of Defense directed in response to several incidents involving the nation’s nuclear deterrent forces. In November 2014, the Secretary of Defense directed the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) to track and assess t...

All 18 major automated information system (MAIS) programs that experienced a critical change to program cost, schedule, or system performance targets submitted complete reports to Congress that contained all four statutory elements, but 16 programs did not meet the requirement to report to Congress within 60 days of the program manager's submission to the senior Department of Defense (DOD) officia...

As GAO reported in September 2015, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has not resolved many of its long-standing management challenges due to a lack of sustained priority attention over time. Frequent turnover of political leadership in the federal government, including at SBA, has often made sustaining attention to needed changes difficult (see figure below). Senior SBA leaders have not prio...