The Nation : 2 OMB Programs Termed ‘Unsuccessful’

In a caustic report on the government’s managerial leadership, the General Accounting Office pronounced the efforts of the Office of Management and Budget to reform the procurement process and contract out jobs “unsuccessful,” the Washington Post reported. The OMB has made progress on other basic management issues--better cash management, better accounting, better debt collection, according to the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress. But the GAO said OMB’s two toughest management initiatives--in procurement and contracting out--over the past eight years were virtual failures. The GAO said that the OMB branch in charge of procurement reform remained leaderless for 23 months and went from a staff of 45 in 1982 to 13 in 1986.