While the White House’s proposal to reorganize the functions of many Federal agencies made the biggest headlines today with major steps like the proposed merger of the Departments of Education and Labor, the lengthy proposal document released today also touches on a host of other significant issues including the Federal cybersecurity workforce, delivery of government services to citizens, and handling of background checks for Federal Employees.
The proposal–entitled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century”–said it seeks to “solve” the Federal cybersecurity workforce shortage “by establishing a unified cyber workforce capability across the civilian enterprise, working through DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and OMB [Office of Management and Budget] in coordination with all Federal departments and agencies.”
“The Administration will work towards a standardized approach to Federal cybersecurity personnel, ensuring government-wide visibility into talent gaps, as well as unified solutions to fill those gaps in a timely and prioritized manner,” the proposal says.
Under the citizen service heading, the proposal says it aims to “transform the way Americans interact with the Federal government by establishing a government-wide customer experience improvement capability to partner with Federal agencies to help them provide a modern, streamlined, and customer-centric experience for citizens, businesses, and other customers, comparable to leading private sector organizations.”
And in the area of background checks, the proposal wants to transfer responsibility to conduct national background investigations from OPM to the Defense Department, which it says will provide “the opportunity to achieve an efficient, effective, fiscally viable, and secure operation that meets all agencies’ needs.”
While some of the proposed reorganization steps could be accomplished by executive order, most would require action by Congress, and the timing of that action especially in an election year is always uncertain.
The White House said today that OMB and Federal agencies are expected “to begin a dialogue” this summer with Congress “to prioritize and refine proposals to best serve the American people.”
