Compilation of Recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for Improving Government Operations

GAO has made many recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on how to improve government operations in various functional areas. Much has been done to improve government operations through the combined efforts of GAO and OMB. However, OMB has not done as much as it could have done to implement some recommendations and, to that extent, has slowed the related benefits.

Many of the recommendations relate to the responsibility of OMB for providing managerial leadership and insuring that agency programs are coordinated with a minimum of duplication and overlap. This includes criticism of OMB for not providing agencies the leadership and guidance for managing federal advisory committees so that those not making valuable contributions can be abolished. Other recommendations concern automatic data processing matters. For example, OMB should require that the costs and benefits of sharing computers be evaluated by federal grantor agencies and grantees and that agency uses of computers be analyzed and standards to guide their development and operation be established. In the area of personnel management, personnel ceilings do not provide the most effective management control over personnel resources, and OMB should test alternative controls. In addition, fundamental changes are needed in the federal white-collar pay system.