Office of Management and Budget

Office of Management and Budget
Agency overview
FormedJuly 1, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-07-01)
Preceding agency
  • Bureau of the Budget
HeadquartersEisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Employees448[1]
Annual budget$141 million (FY 2022)
Agency executive
Parent agencyExecutive Office of the President of the United States
Child agencies
Websitewhitehouse.gov/omb

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office[a] within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget,[2] but it also examines agency programs, policies, and procedures to see whether they comply with the president's policies and coordinates inter-agency policy initiatives.

Shalanda Young became OMB's acting director in March 2021,[3] and was confirmed by the Senate in March 2022.[4]

History

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The Bureau of the Budget, OMB's predecessor, was established in 1921 as a part of the Department of the Treasury by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which President Warren G. Harding signed into law. The Bureau of the Budget was moved to the Executive Office of the President in 1939 and was run by Harold D. Smith during the government's rapid expansion of spending during World War II. James L. Sundquist, a staffer at the Bureau of the Budget, called the relationship between the president and the bureau extremely close and subsequent bureau directors politicians, not public administrators.[5]

The bureau was reorganized into the Office of Management and Budget in 1970 during the Nixon administration.[6] The first OMB included Roy Ash (head), Paul O'Neill (assistant director), Fred Malek (deputy director), Frank Zarb (associate director) and two dozen others.

In the 1990s, OMB was reorganized to remove the distinction between management staff and budgetary staff by combining the dual roles into each given program examiner within the Resource Management Offices.[7]

Purpose

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OMB prepares the president's budget proposal to Congress and supervises the administration of the executive branch agencies. It evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the president's budget and administration policies.

OMB also oversees and coordinates the administration's procurement, financial management, information, and regulatory policies. In each of these areas, OMB's role is to help improve administrative management, develop better performance measures and coordinating mechanisms, and reduce unnecessary burdens on the public.

OMB's critical missions are:[8]

  1. Budget development and execution, a prominent government-wide process managed by the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and a device by which a president implements their policies, priorities, and actions in everything from the Department of Defense to NASA.
  2. Managing other agencies' financials, paperwork, and IT.

Structure

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Overview

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OMB is made up mainly of career appointed staff who provide continuity across changes of party and administration in the White House. Six positions within OMB – the Director, the Deputy Director, the Deputy Director for Management, and the administrators of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and the Office of Federal Financial Management – are presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed positions.

OMB's largest components are the five Resource Management Offices, which are organized along functional lines mirroring the federal government, each led by an OMB associate director. Approximately half of all OMB staff are assigned to these offices, the majority of whom are designated as program examiners. Program examiners can be assigned to monitor one or more federal agencies or may be deployed by a topical area, such as monitoring issues relating to U.S. Navy warships. These staff have dual responsibility for both management and budgetary issues, as well as for giving expert advice on all aspects relating to their programs. Each year they review federal agency budget requests and help decide what resource requests will be sent to Congress as part of the president's budget. They perform in-depth program evaluations with the Program Assessment Rating Tool, review proposed regulations and agency testimony, analyze pending legislation, and oversee the aspects of the president's management agenda including agency management scorecards. They are often called upon to provide analysis information to EOP staff. They also provide important information to those assigned to the statutory offices within OMB: the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Office of Federal Financial Management, and the Office of E-Government & Information Technology, which specializes in issues such as federal regulations and procurement policy and law.

Other components are OMB-wide support offices, including the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Budget Review Division (BRD), and the Legislative Reference Division. The BRD performs government-wide budget coordination and is largely responsible for the technical aspects relating to the release of the president's budget each February. With respect to the estimation of spending for the executive branch, the BRD serves a purpose parallel to that of the Congressional Budget Office (which was created in response to the OMB) for estimating Congressional spending, the Department of the Treasury for estimating executive branch revenue, and the Joint Committee on Taxation for estimating Congressional revenue.

The Legislative Reference Division is the federal government's central clearing house for proposed legislation or testimony by federal officials. It distributes proposed legislation and testimony to all relevant federal reviewers and distills the comments into a consensus opinion of the administration about the proposal. It is also responsible for writing an Enrolled Bill Memorandum to the president once a bill is presented by both chambers of Congress for the president's signature. The Enrolled Bill Memorandum details the bill's particulars, opinions on the bill from relevant federal departments, and an overall opinion about whether it should be signed into law or vetoed. It also issues Statements of Administration Policy that let Congress know the White House's official position on proposed legislation.

Role in the executive budget process

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In practice, the president has assigned the OMB certain responsibilities when it comes to the budget and hiring authorities who play key roles in developing it. OMB coordinates the development of the president's budget proposal by issuing circulars, memoranda, and guidance documents to the heads of executive agencies. The OMB works very closely with executive agencies in making sure the budget process and proposal is smooth.[9]

The development of the budget within the executive branch has many steps and takes nearly a year to complete. The first step is the OMB informing the president of the country's economic situation. The next step is known as the Spring Guidance: the OMB gives executive agencies instructions on policy guidance to use when coming up with their budget requests along with due dates for them to submit their requests. The OMB then works with the agencies to discuss issues in the upcoming budget. In July, the OMB issues circular A-11 to all agencies, which outlines instructions for submitting the budget proposals, which the agencies submit by September. The fiscal year begins October 1 and OMB staff meet with senior agency representatives to find out whether their proposals are in line with the president's priorities and policies and identify constraints within the budget proposal until late November. The OMB director then meets with the president and EOP advisors to discuss the agencies' budget proposals and recommends a federal budget proposal, and the agencies are notified of the decisions about their requests. They can appeal to OMB and the president in December if they are dissatisfied with the decisions. After working together to resolve issues, agencies and OMB prepare a budget justification document to present to relevant congressional committees, especially the Appropriations Committee. Finally, by the first Monday in February, the president must review and submit the final budget to Congress to approve.[10]

OMB is also responsible for the preparation of Statements of Administrative Policy (SAPs) with the president. These statements allow the OMB to communicate the president's and agencies' policies to the government as a whole and set forth policymakers' agendas.[10] During the review of the federal budget, interest groups can lobby for policy change and affect the budget for the new year.[11] OMB plays a key role in policy conflicts by making sure legislation and agencies' actions are consistent with the executive branch's. OMB has a powerful and influential role in the government, basically making sure its day-to-day operations run. Without a budget, federal employees could not be paid, federal buildings could not open and federal programs would come to a halt in a government shutdown. Shutdowns can occur when Congress refuses to pass a budget.[11]

Suspension and debarment

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The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee (ISDC) was created as an OMB committee by President Ronald Reagan's Executive Order 12549 in 1986, for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the order. This order mandates executive departments and agencies to:

Circulars

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Circulars are instructions or information the OMB issues to federal agencies that are indexed by major category: Budget, State and Local Governments, Educational and Non-Profit Institutions, Federal Procurement, Federal Financial Management, Federal Information Resources / Data Collection and Other Special Purpose.[13]

Circular NO. A-119 Circular A-119[14] is for federal participation in the development and use of voluntary consensus standards and in conformity assessment activities. A-119 instructs its agencies to adopt voluntary consensus standards before relying upon industry standards and reducing to a minimum the reliance by agencies on government standards. Adoption of international standards is widely followed by U.S. agencies.[15] This includes:

Organization

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Current appointees

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List of directors

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List of OMB directors.[25]

Name Start End President Notes
Charles Dawes June 23, 1921 June 30, 1922 Warren G. Harding
Herbert Lord July 1, 1922 May 31, 1929 Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Clawson Roop August 15, 1929 March 3, 1933 Herbert Hoover
Lewis Douglas March 7, 1933 August 31, 1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Daniel Bell September 1, 1934 April 14, 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harold Smith April 15, 1939 June 19, 1946 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
James Webb July 13, 1946 January 27, 1949 Harry S. Truman
Frank Pace February 1, 1949 April 12, 1950 Harry S. Truman
Fred Lawton April 13, 1950 January 21, 1953 Harry S. Truman
Joseph Dodge January 22, 1953 April 15, 1954 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Rowland Hughes April 16, 1954 April 1, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Percival Brundage April 2, 1956 March 17, 1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Maurice Stans March 18, 1958 January 21, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
David Bell January 22, 1961 December 20, 1962 John F. Kennedy
Kermit Gordon December 28, 1962 June 1, 1965 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Charles Schultze June 1, 1965 January 28, 1968 Lyndon B. Johnson
Charles Zwick January 29, 1968 January 21, 1969 Lyndon B. Johnson
Bob Mayo January 22, 1969 June 30, 1970 Richard Nixon
George Shultz July 1, 1970 June 11, 1972 Richard Nixon
Caspar Weinberger June 12, 1972 February 1, 1973 Richard Nixon
Roy Ash February 2, 1973 February 3, 1975 Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Lynn February 10, 1975 January 20, 1977 Gerald Ford
Bert Lance January 21, 1977 September 23, 1977 Jimmy Carter
Jim McIntyre September 24, 1977 January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter
David Stockman January 21, 1981 August 1, 1985 Ronald Reagan
Jim Miller October 8, 1985 October 15, 1988 Ronald Reagan
Joe Wright October 16, 1988 January 20, 1989 Ronald Reagan
Dick Darman January 25, 1989 January 20, 1993 George H. W. Bush
Leon Panetta January 21, 1993 July 17, 1994 Bill Clinton
Alice Rivlin October 17, 1994 April 26, 1996 Bill Clinton
Frank Raines September 13, 1996 May 21, 1998 Bill Clinton
Jack Lew May 21, 1998 January 19, 2001 Bill Clinton
Mitch Daniels January 23, 2001 June 6, 2003 George W. Bush
Josh Bolten June 6, 2003 April 15, 2006 George W. Bush
Rob Portman May 26, 2006 June 19, 2007 George W. Bush
Jim Nussle September 4, 2007 January 20, 2009 George W. Bush
Peter Orszag January 20, 2009 July 30, 2010 Barack Obama
Jeff Zients
Acting
July 30, 2010 November 18, 2010 Barack Obama
Jack Lew November 18, 2010 January 27, 2012 Barack Obama
Jeff Zients
Acting
January 27, 2012 April 24, 2013 Barack Obama
Sylvia Mathews Burwell April 24, 2013 June 9, 2014 Barack Obama
Brian Deese
Acting
June 9, 2014 July 28, 2014 Barack Obama
Shaun Donovan July 28, 2014 January 20, 2017 Barack Obama
Mark Sandy
Acting
January 20, 2017 February 16, 2017 Donald Trump
Mick Mulvaney February 16, 2017
On leave: January 2, 2019 – March 31, 2020
March 31, 2020 Donald Trump Became Acting White House Chief of Staff on January 2, 2019, but remained OMB Director through the rest of his tenure.[26]
Russ Vought January 2, 2019
Acting: January 2, 2019 – July 22, 2020
January 20, 2021 Donald Trump Initially Acting Director during Mulvaney's service as Acting White House Chief of Staff continued until Vought was confirmed.[26][27]
Rob Fairweather
Acting
January 20, 2021 March 24, 2021 Joe Biden
Shalanda Young March 24, 2021
Acting: March 24, 2021 – March 17, 2022
present Joe Biden While Young was Acting Director, Jason Miller assumed duties during her parental leave from October 2021 – December 2021.[28][29]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In terms of number of employees and budget

References

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  1. ^ "Executive Office of the President" (PDF). whitehouse.gov.
  2. ^ "The Mission and Structure of the Office of Management and Budget".
  3. ^ "The Mission and Structure of the Office of Management and Budget". The White House. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  4. ^ "Congressional Record Senate Articles". www.congress.gov. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Oral History Interview with James L. Sundquist, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1963, by Charles T. Morrissey, "James L. Sundquist Oral History Interview | Harry S. Truman".
  6. ^ "84 Stat. 2085" (PDF). govinfo.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "OMB Organization Chart" (PDF). Office of Management and Budget. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Organization Mission at archive of OMB site
  9. ^ Berman, Larry (March 8, 2015). The Office of Management and Budget and the Presidency, 1921-1979. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400867288. OCLC 905862779.
  10. ^ a b Shambaugwh IV, George E.; Weinstein Jr., Paul J (2016). The Art of Policymaking. Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press. pp. 109–113. ISBN 978-0321081032.
  11. ^ a b Haeder, Simon F.; Webb Yackee, Susan (August 2015). "Influence and the Administrative Process: Lobbying the U.S. President's Office of Management and Budget". American Political Science Review. 109 (3): 507–522. doi:10.1017/S0003055415000246. ISSN 0003-0554. S2CID 145226542.
  12. ^ US Environmental Protection Agency, Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee, updated 15 June 2020, accessed 8 February 2021
  13. ^ "Circulars". whitehouse.gov. The White House.
  14. ^ "CIRCULAR NO. A-119 Revised" (PDF). whitehouse.gov. The White House. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 19, 2017.
  15. ^ "National Examples - United States of America". policy.iso.org. International Organization for Standardization.
  16. ^ "Environmental Management Systems (EMS)". epa.gov. EPA. November 5, 2014.
  17. ^ "Environmental Management". policy.iso.org. International Organization for Standardization.
  18. ^ "ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard". energy.gov. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.
  19. ^ "Energy Management". policy.iso.org. International Organization for Standardization.
  20. ^ "Guidance for Executive Order 13673, "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces"; Final Guidance". osha.gov. US Department of Labor.
  21. ^ "Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP)". fda.gov. FDA. February 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "Medical Devices". policy.iso.org. International Organization for Standardization.
  23. ^ "FSMA Final Rule for Preventive Controls for Human Food". regulations.gov. FDA.
  24. ^ "Food Products". policy.iso.org. International Organization for Standardization.
  25. ^ "Directors of The Office of Management and Budget and The Bureau of the Budget". Office of Management and Budget(Archived). Retrieved October 18, 2009.
  26. ^ a b Cook, Nancy (January 4, 2019). "Mulvaney eggs Trump on in shutdown fight". Politico. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  27. ^ Emma, Caitlin (July 20, 2020). "Senate confirms Russ Vought to be White House budget chief". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  28. ^ "Acting OMB Director Young to Take Maternal Leave Soon, Jason Miller to Handle Day-to-Day".
  29. ^ "Democrats frustrated by vacancies across government". November 21, 2021.
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