Prioritizing Management: Implementing Chief Management Officers at Federal Agencies

In the past five years, the federal government has undergone the largest reorganization in a generation. Civil service reforms have been central to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the personnel system reforms at the Department of Defense (DoD). Management of these reforms has fallen on the shoulders of Under Secretaries who often lack the broad organizational authority to address serious human capital, succession planning, and integration issues. In previous hearings, Comptroller General David Walker suggested that a Chief Management Officer (CMO) was needed specifically at DHS and DoD to address these critical issues; in addition, many federal agencies could benefit from a CMO. The hearing will examine how the federal government can implement CMOs to address the many challenges facing transformation at federal agencies and improve their overall efficiency. The hearing will review the results of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on implementing Chief Management Officers in the public and private sector. The report also developed strategies and criteria for establishing CMOs at federal agencies. The conclusions and findings of the report will be released at the Subcommittee hearing.