Managing for Results: Opportunities for Congress to Address Government Performance Issues

Many federal program efforts, such as those related to ensuring food safety, providing homeland security, monitoring incidence of infectious diseases, or improving response to natural disasters, generally require the effective collaboration of more than one agency. As we have recently testified before each of your subcommittees and the task force, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA)1 calls for a more coordinated and crosscutting approach to achieve meaningful results.2 Indeed, we have noted for many years the central role that GPRA could play in identifying and fostering improved coordination across related federal program efforts.3 Effective GPRAMA implementation provides opportunities to identify the various agencies and federal activities- including spending programs, regulations, and tax expenditures- that contribute to crosscutting programs and to ensure that coordination mechanisms are in place. Our recent report on potential duplication, overlap, and fragmentation highlights a number of areas where a more crosscutting approach is needed- both across agencies and within a specific agency.4 GPRAMA provides a powerful opportunity for agencies to collect and report more timely and useful performance information on crosscutting programs.