Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the business arm of the federal government’s executive branch. It is responsible for administering the federal budget and overseeing the performance of various government agencies. As the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP), the OMB assists the president in developing and managing the federal budget and helps other agencies with financial and regulatory concerns. More specifically, the OMB serves the president by reviewing budget requests and offering advice on how funding levels should be adjusted. In addition, the OMB analyzes proposed regulations so as to ensure appropriate cost efficiency. Although it was not formally created until 1970, the OMB’s history dates back as far as the 1920s. Since that time, the OMB’s level of power within the executive branch has periodically risen and fallen due to legislative action and shifting responsibilities over the years.

Background

The early roots of the Office of Management and Budget can be traced back to the 1920s. Prior to that time, the executive branch lacked any system allowing for unified administration of federal spending policy. Instead, the various agencies within the executive branch simply submitted their budgetary requests to the secretary of the treasury, who subsequently forwarded them on to Congress. This meant that the president had only a limited role in budget matters. That began to change when Congress created the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) in 1921. The forerunner of the OMB, the BOB was originally part of the Treasury Department before eventually being relocated to the newly established EOP in 1939. Its primary responsibility was to coordinate and modify the budget estimate of the executive branch’s various departments.

The BOB became increasingly powerful in the years following World War II. It gradually came to have more influence over legislation and a closer working relationship with the president. The BOB’s responsibilities also increased as the federal budget ballooned. Eventually, however, the federal government’s mounting budgetary concerns necessitated staff cuts that left the BOB unable to fulfill all of its responsibilities. By the late 1960s, the BOB was in serious need of reorganization.

President Richard M. Nixon formally replaced the BOB with the OMB in 1970 as part of an effort to gain more control over spending by federal departments. While it was more functional than its predecessor, the OMB was initially criticized for being too close to Nixon, interfering with the internal operations of government agencies, and being overly political. To address these concerns and effectively neutralize the OMB, Congress passed legislation in 1973 that required the OMB’s budget director and deputy director to be confirmed by the Senate. Congress also passed reforms that protected its own role in the budget process and placed statutory restrictions on the amount of money that presidents could impound, or refuse to spend. All of this helped to better define the responsibilities and limitations of the OMB and allowed the department to develop into its modern form.

Overview

The US federal government is a sprawling body that consists of hundreds of agencies that collectively spend trillions of dollars every year. The OMB is tasked with overseeing all government spending and executing the president’s budgetary agenda. Essentially, the OMB acts as the enforcer of the president’s broader vision for the federal government.

In practice, the OMB fulfills its responsibilities through five essential processes. These include budget development and execution, management, coordination and review of federal regulations by executive agencies, legislative clearance and coordination with Congress, and executive orders and presidential memoranda to agency heads. Budget development and execution is the OMB’s primary process. The OMB serves as the mechanism through which the president’s agenda is implemented. The management component of the OMB’s operations involves oversight of various government agencies, financial management, and information management. In terms of coordinating and reviewing federal regulations by executive agencies, the OMB is responsible for assessing economic and other relevant impacts of such regulations and ensuring that they reflect the president’s policies. Similarly, the process of legislative clearance and coordination with Congress involves clearing all agency communications with Congress to ensure that they too are properly aligned with the president’s policies. Finally, the OMB’s responsibilities are fulfilled through executive orders and presidential memoranda, which are the directives through which the president exercises authority over government agencies and operations.

There are two major components of the OMB, including Budget Review and Management. The Budget Review Division (BRD) is tasked with developing and implementing the president’s budget. It analyzes budget data, provides support for budget decision-making and negotiations, and monitors congressional action related to appropriations and spending. The BRD also provides advice on budgetary concepts and execution.

The management side of the OMB consists of five resource management offices (RMOs) that perform different functions. These RMOs include the Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM), the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the Office of E-Government and Information Technology (E-Gov), the Office of Performance and Personnel Management (OPPM), and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The OFFM is responsible for overseeing all the money paid to and spent by the federal government. As part of its duties in this regard, the OFFM seeks to improve financial management and systems, reduce improper payments, and improve grant management. The OFPP is responsible for crafting the various policies and practices that government agencies rely upon to acquire goods and services. E-Gov is responsible for overseeing the use of any and all Internet-based technologies that individual citizens and businesses use to interact with the federal government. Its primary purposes are to save taxpayer dollars and streamline citizen participation. The OPPM is responsible for overseeing each presidential administration’s performance review process for government agencies and all of their employees. Its primary goal is to improve the productivity and transparency of government agencies. The OIRA is responsible for reviewing federal regulations, reducing the burden caused by excess paperwork, and overseeing all policies related to privacy and information quality.

Bibliography

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“Office of Management and Budget.” White House, www.whitehouse.gov/omb. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

“Office of Management and Budget (OMB).” US Government Bookstore, bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/office-management-and-budget-omb. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

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“What Is the Office of Management and Budget? (And How Does It Relate to Grants?).” Grants.gov, blog.grants.gov/2017/05/01/what-is-the-office-of-management-and-budget-and-how-does-it-relate-to-grants. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.

“The White House’s Enforcer: Office of Management & Budget.” Center Forward, center-forward.org/the-white-houses-enforcer-the-office-of-management-budget. Accessed 7 Dec. 2018.