ASPA Center for Accountability & Performance

Senators Seek to Get Pentagon to Achieve a Clean Audit

Government Executive

A bipartisan bill would penalize the Defense Department for failing its FY 2022 audit.

Do Federal Grants Need Tweaking for Better Results?

Federal News Network

Shelley Metzenbaum offers a detailed plan for how government might get better outcomes for the grant dollars it gives. 

Questions Loom for States, Localities About How to Spend Billions in Covid Relief Funds

Route Fifty

Federal and policy experts told city officials that governments that lost revenue during the pandemic have greater flexibility for using the American Rescue Plan money.

From Rescue to Resilience: How American Rescue Plan Funding Can Support Long-Term Fiscal Health

PATimes

Andrew Kleine describes ten ways state and local governments can use their Covid relief funding to become more fiscally sustainable for the long term.

Five Best Practices for Strategic Planning

Partnership for Public Service

To help agencies develop their 2022-2026 strategic plans, the Partnership for Public Service and Grant Thornton are hosting a three-part workshop series with strategic planners from across the federal government. 

Biden’s DOD Will Huddle About How to Replace CMO Position

Federal News Network

The Pentagon is preparing for its future without a chief management officer position, a role Congress eliminated in this year’s defense authorization act.

Justice Department Launches New COVID-19 Fraud Task Force

Government Executive

President Biden has been encouraging strong oversight of relief funds.

Pedestrians and Cyclists: Better Information to States and Enhanced Performance Management Could Help DOT Improve Safety

Government Accountability Office

While a DOT guide has useful information on a range of pedestrian and cyclist safety countermeasures, only 3 of 26 countermeasures were demonstrated to be effective.

Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk

White House

Develop, within 120 days of the date of this order, a comprehensive, Government-wide strategy regarding the measurement, assessment, mitigation, and disclosure of climate-related financial risk to Federal Government programs, assets, and liabilities in order to increase the long-term stability of Federal operations.

Funding Performance: How Great Donors Invest in Grantee Success

Leap Ambassadors

While these 8 essays are directed to nonprofits and foundation funders, their principles can be applied to government grant programs as well.

We Need to Talk . . . .

Fast Company

. . . about how the new way to work is about outcomes, not hours.

VA Disability Exams: Action Needed to Improve Program Management

Government Accountability Office

VA has not applied sound planning practices in transferring disability medical exam work to contractors, testified GAO’s Elizabeth Curda.

The President’s Management Agenda: Biden Going Big Again?

MeriTalk

Alan Balutis says: “Very soon – within weeks I suspect – we will be learning much more about some of the nitty-gritty details underlying the administration’s big-picture visions”

A Year of Pandemic Oversight

Government Executive (Podcast Interview)

Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery Brian Miller speaks to GovExec’s Courtney Bublé about his time in his role.

Lessons from the Pandemic for Government Leaders at Every Level

Government Executive

Don Kettl writes: “COVID-19 laid bare both the shortcomings and virtues of federalism.”

Watchdog Suggests 112 New Actions to Enhance Government Savings and Efficiency

Government Accountability Office

The federal government could save billions of dollars by transforming such disparate functions as taxpayer services, prison staffing and infectious disease modeling.

DoD Strengthens Its Emphasis on Data, Gives CDO New Responsibilities

Federal News Network

The Defense Department is transforming itself into a data-centric organization, and is tasking its chief data officer with new responsibilities to help it along its way.

On-Line Games: How Would You Fix the Budget?

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

The Committee launches new suite of five online games to educate and crowdsource views on federal budget priorities.

Webinar: Data Symposium – Exploring Emerging Data Capabilities in Government (May 18-21)

Data Foundation

Participants will engage with peers and colleagues in the data community on timely, relevant topics facing our country’s use of data for an equitable, data-informed society

DOD Targets 2028 for First Clean Financial Statement Audit

Federal News Network

Pentagon financial leaders said they’re making meaningful progress toward finally earning a clean audit opinion. So much so, in fact, that they’re now willing to project a tentative timeframe for when it’ll happen: 2028.

Experts Examine Accountability, Transparency Improvements in Government

NextGov

House lawmakers examined legislative reforms Monday that might help restore public confidence.

White House Seeks Ideas on How Agencies Can Deliver Services More Equitably

Government Executive

The Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday solicited advice to better ensure agency programs are serving groups based specifically on race, sexual orientation and identity, religion, disabilities and others affected by inequality.

Lawmakers Say It’s Past Time OMB Issued IDEA Act Guidance

NextGov

After two years in limbo and a pandemic forcing more adoption of digital services, House lawmakers want to see real guidance issued in the next 45 days.

Defense Intelligence and Security: DOD Needs to Establish Oversight Expectations and to Develop Tools That Enhance Accountability

U.S. Government Accountability Office

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, created after 9/11, hasn’t set clear expectations for its oversight mission.

Senate Hearing: Findings and Recommendations of the Government Accountability Office on Duplication, Overlap, and Fragmentation of Federal Programs – May 12, 2021

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Annual release of GAO’s mandated report identifying duplication, overlap and fragmentation in federal programs, and agencies’ progress on addressing prior GAO recommendations to address them.

 Webinar: Data Analytics: Unlocking the Data to Find Hidden Patterns – May 12, 2021

Association of Government Accountants

This webinar explores the use of data analytics to support decisions made by government financial managers.

Policy Insights

JPAL North America

What have we learned from randomized evaluations that policymakers, practitioners, and funders can use to improve social programs? J-PAL’s Policy Insights, organized by sector, highlight lessons emerging across multiple studies and the mechanisms that help explain the results.

Use Performance Principles to Spend State-Local Rescue Plan Monies

New York Times op-ed by Robert Gordon and Michele Jolin

Based on decades of experience with every level of government, we would organize efforts around five principles.

As Influx of Aid Nears, Some Guiding Principles for States and Localities to Consider

RouteFifty

The Government Finance Officers Association has issued a set of principles for finance officers and elected officials to think about as they move ahead.

How We Can – and Should – Link Recovery Spending to Long-Term Transformation

Governing

Success will depend on how the funds are spent: what plans are put in place for spending, how those plans are executed and the mechanisms that are established to ensure accountability.

Senate Confirms OMB Deputy Director for Management

Government Executive

Miller is a former Obama administration economic adviser and most recently a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership, a nonprofit civic alliance. 

“Our Government Still Works”

Government Executive

On the eve of his 100th day in office, the president recapped his administration’s achievements and outlined plans for vast reforms.

Defense Acquisition Reform: Increased Focus on Knowledge Needed to Achieve Intended Performance and Innovation Outcomes

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Using knowledge at key points in weapons programs helps reduce the risk of cost and schedule overruns that have plagued DOD’s weapon programs in the past.

Overcoming Road Blocks to Evidence-Based Policymaking

Route Fifty

Despite these advances, federal, state and local governments face complex challenges in using data to build a stronger foundation for evidence-based policy. 

Results for America Newsletter – April 2021

What works in federal policy

Agencies Gain Momentum Appointing Evidence Act Leadership

FedScoop

The Evaluation Officer Council meets monthly and works regularly with the Federal CDO Council and Performance Improvement Council. 

New Treasury Office Will Oversee COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Programs

Government Executive

 Up until now, different offices within Treasury led the various coronavirus relief initiatives that the department is responsible for.

Reinventing the Grant System to be More Outcome-Focused

IBM Center for The Business of Government

Is it time to reinvent the roles of the many players in the grants management system and designate an “outcomes broker?”

Bill to Strengthen IG Independence

Federal News Network

The leadership of the House Oversight and Reform Committee . . . are calling for a new kind of investment in IG offices — greater independence from presidential firings, the authority to subpoena former federal employees and contractors, and more urgency within the White House to name permanent watchdogs to positions left vacant for years.

“A Troubling Trend:” Independent State Program Evaluation Under Attack

Route Fifty

Without a vote, the legislative leadership in North Carolina closed the state’s program evaluation division

Bringing Rigorous Testing to Health Care Policy

New York Times

Randomized, evidence-based trials, long required for new drugs, are now underway for government policy initiatives

Bipartisan Bill Seeks Broader Input, More Specifics as Agencies Craft Performance Goals

 Government Executive

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers is pushing to improve the performance plans federal agencies issue each year, introducing legislation that would require input from more leadership officials.