The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its final quarterly updates to the Biden-Harris administration’s President’s Management Agenda (PMA) last week, noting that the PMA teams will continue to work on achieving their final milestones through January 2025.
The Biden-Harris administration released its PMA in November 2021, setting broad goals to overhaul how the government recruits and retains its workforce, harnesses technology to provide citizens with better digital services, and undertakes acquisitions in a way that provides advantages to the domestic economy.
The practice of new administrations issuing PMA agendas dates back to 2001. The documents describe strategies to make the Federal government more effective and efficient and set overarching goals for management.
Strengthening and Empowering the Federal Workforce
The administration’s first priority – strengthening and empowering the Federal workforce – was met with four goals, most of which are almost 100 percent complete. Over his four years in office, President Biden set out more than 130 tasks to hire diverse, qualified employees; engage and support employees; shape the future of work; and make the government a model employer.
According to the PMA dashboard, the administration still has 15 outstanding tasks it plans to complete before the new Trump administration takes over in January.
Some key steps the administration took over the last four years to bolster the Federal workforce include:
- Guidance on new skills and competencies needed for positions related to AI;
- Launched the Workforce of the Future Playbook;
- Governmentwide hiring authorities for advancing Federal government use of AI;
- OPM issues final rule updating Pathways Programs; and
- Biden-Harris administration issues memo supporting improvements to Federal hiring experience.
Delivering Secure Federal CX
The administration’s second priority – “delivering excellent, equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience” – was met with three goals, which are more than three-quarters complete. Over his four years, President Biden set out just under 200 tasks to improve high impact Federal services; support key life experiences; and develop shared products, services, and standards.
According to the PMA dashboard, the administration still has 40 outstanding tasks it plans to complete before the new Trump administration takes over in January.
Some key steps the administration took over the last four years to strengthen Federal CX include:
- “Life Experiences” designated to prioritize for governmentwide action;
- Commitments outlined in the president’s executive order on CX; and
- IRS Direct File Pilot.
Managing the Business of Government
The administration’s final priority – managing the business of government – was met with two goals, which are 80 percent complete. Over his four years, President Biden set out 27 tasks to improve the Federal acquisition system and strengthen Federal financial management.
According to the PMA dashboard, the administration has five outstanding tasks it plans to complete before the new Trump administration takes over in January.
Some key steps the administration took over the last four years to better manage the business of government include:
- Guidance streamlining and modernizing the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Program;
- The Better Contracting Initiative; and
- OMB creates Council on Federal Financial Assistance.
The PMA team said it will update Performance.gov when the new administration’s PMA is announced.
