New OMB director can help improve government efficiency

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to name conservative budget hawk Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) director of the Office of Management and Budget is a signal that the new administration will emphasize lower government spending despite plans for sizable tax cuts and a major infrastructure program.

This ambitious agenda no doubt will consume the lion’s share of the new director’s time. But, as he helps craft a new budget and grapples with fiscal policy, Mulvaney and the new president should embrace the other critical roles played by OMB that could have a huge impact on the operations of the government.

{mosads}OMB is a small agency — fewer than 500 employees — but its reach spans across the federal landscape. It is the only entity positioned to drive innovation, collaboration, efficiency and the use of data throughout the federal enterprise.

With the potential of smaller budgets, improved management and cost-effective delivery of services will be essential. As history has demonstrated, competent management can lead to positive outcomes and a successful presidency. Missteps can derail important initiatives, lead to political fallout and increase public distrust.

While the departments and agencies must be responsible for implementing policies, there are a number of areas where Trump and Mulvaney can expand current practices to greatly improve government performance, better serve the public and help themselves in the process.

First, OMB should play a stronger role strengthening how government uses information and evidence to better understand whether programs and policies are getting positive results.

Too often, agencies spend money based on good intentions and “guesstimates,” not on measurable evidence that programs are working as intended. OMB could help set standards for what constitutes success and identify which programs and approaches meet those standards.

Second, OMB should be more proactive in removing barriers that impede change and innovation. Solving tough problems requires taking chances and that means a greater tolerance for well-founded risk-taking.

While OMB has a reputation for being “the agency of no” because of its role protecting the president and the administration’s budget and policy priorities, it can do more to clarify where agency leaders have flexibility to test new approaches, identify areas that are off-limits, provide air cover to test new ideas without fear of reprisals and serve as an incubator for change.

The Obama administration, for example, created a template for innovation by starting the United States Digital Service inside OMB, bringing in private sector technology experts to work with federal employees to improve agency online services and internal operations. OMB then helped spread this successful digital services startup model to other agencies.

Third, OMB should build on current efforts to get agencies to work more closely together on many of the nation’s critical challenges. Few of the issues, such as cybersecurity, economic development, or immigration, can be solved by any single agency acting alone.

Achieving many of the new administration’s priorities will require having the government operate as an integrated enterprise, rather than separate, disconnected entities. OMB could work with Congress to fund cooperative interagency efforts and help agency leaders connect and map strategies to align overlapping activities.

An example of current of OMB-assisted, cross-agency coordination involves expediting the federal permitting, review and approval processes for more than 50 infrastructure projects. This has involved efforts by multiple agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers, to synchronize their work.

In the state of New York, the federal permitting and review process for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge took 1.5 years, instead of the normal three-to-five years, because of the federal coordination.

While the budget will always be OMB’s most significant function, Mulvaney and Trump will have the challenge and opportunity to expand OMB’s role as a positive force in helping agencies more effectively deliver results for the American people.

Max Stier is president and CEO of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, which through its Center for Presidential Transition, has worked with the presidential candidates, federal agencies, Congress and the White House to help ensure the next chief executive is prepared to govern. A graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School, Max is a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, the Administrative Conference of the United States and the National Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard College.

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