By Ellizabeth Newell
Two key lawmakers are continuing to advocate the creation of a chief management officer position for federal agencies to ensure that management issues are a top priority and progress continues into the next administration.
Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, have pushed for the new position for several years, focusing originally on the Defense and Homeland Security departments. While both those agencies have named CMOs, the senators fear the reforms might have been insufficiently comprehensive. The Government Accountability Office has called for full-time, senior-level chief operating officers or chief management officers with term appointments of five to seven years with a performance agreement.
"The federal government is no model to be followed for economy, efficiency, effectiveness, ethics, and the mere fact that we don't have these positions now is part of the problem and we need to resolve that," said Comptroller General David M. Walker.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38835&dcn=e_gvet
