Wholesale Change at OMB – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder believes technology can transform government but how it works and how it interacts with its citizens. The men behind that transformation is the CIO David Behen and CTO Rod Davenport. They sat down with Chris for an extended conversation about the state of Michigan’s IT system.

But up front: Changes at OMB

There appears to be a wholesale change going on at the Office of Management and Budget. On Friday, OMB quietly announced that Jeffrey Zients, who has served as the Obama administration’s chief performance officer (technically the OMB deputy director for management) would be leaving. Shelley Metzenbaum, who served as OMB’s associate director for personnel and performance, quietly departed OMB last month as well.

The new OMB director Sylvia Burwell was confirmed by the Senate on April 24th.

It is unclear if it means that the Obama administration is going to take a different tack on managing performance. Metzenbaum is widely credited with making significant progress in how agencies measure performance — one of the more vexing issues for government and agencies.

It will be interesting to see how Burwell makes her mark.

• Six things to know about the new White House budget director

Meanwhile, sequestration continues: The Hill: Regulators find ways to spare employees from pain of furloughs

The SEVEN Stories that Impact Your Life:

1. It is public service recognition week! Celebrated the first week of May since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week is time to honor the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county, and local government employees and ensure that our government is the best in the world. The theme this year is “Why I Serve” and throughout the week agency leaders and elected officials will share their stories about why they answered the call to serve in government.
2. Meanwhile, a new poll is out that shows 68% of Americans believe federal workers don’t work as hard as private sector workers. Government Executive shares these poll numbers and various other insights from the poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports.
3. The Obama administration’s chief performance officer, Jeffrey Zients, is leaving. Technically he was the Office of Management and Budget’s deputy director for management. Federal News Radio reports reports that Zients has been the deputy director for management and chief performance officer for four years and much of that time he served as the acting OMB Director. He is replaced by Sylvia Burwell who has confirmed as OMB Director by the Senate on April 24th.
4. Aides on Capitol Hill familiar with the White House’s plans to change how sequestration cuts affect a handful of agencies are reporting to the Huffington Post that the administration has identified almost $5 billion in cuts that can be restored under its reading of the budget rules governing sequestration.
5. Samsung and BlackBerry Cleared for Pentagon Work http://dthin.gs/10exo2K
6. Recently cyber attacks briefly tanked the stock market and the Department of Labor’s website was hacked. Paul Rosenzwelg, a former top US Department of Homeland Security official, seems to think that cybersecurity breaches could be far worse than previously imagined.
7. And on GovLoop, you can now register for the May 15th DorobekINSIDER Live panel. This time around we are talking about the one year anniversary of the Digital Government Strategy. The free online webinar will feature government and industry experts.

DorobekINSIDER Water-Cooler Fodder

• Real Clear Politics: When Will America Burst D.C.’s Bubble?
• Creating an Innovative Government Environment: Government Executive
• Sen. Rand Paul’s Call To Abolish the TSA, One Year Later