Partnership for Public Service statement on the confirmation of OMB Director Russell Vought

The nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service released the following statement from President and CEO Max Stier after Russell Vought was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“The Office of Management and Budget plays a pivotal role in ensuring the effective implementation of programs and policies across the federal enterprise. As the newly confirmed director of OMB, a position he held during President Donald Trump’s first term, Mr. Vought has the opportunity to use his experience and knowledge to improve the operations and management of our government to better serve the needs of the public,” Stier said.

“We are deeply disappointed, however, that President Trump has issued several executive orders that aim to politicize the civil service and unfairly punish career civil servants for executing policies of the previous administration, which they were required to do by their oath. These actions will strip the government of critical expertise and move the country back to the inefficient and corrupt spoils system of the 19th century,” Stier said.

Stier continued, “Our government does need serious reforms to improve the hiring process, remove poor performers more easily, make better use of technology and data, and invest in simple and streamlined services for the public. Instead of focusing on workarounds to outdated and broken systems, we hope Mr. Vought will work with agencies, employees and stakeholders to create a system that meets the public’s needs going forward.”

The Partnership’s annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government^® rankings offer the most comprehensive assessment of how federal public servants view their jobs and workplaces, providing employee perspectives on leadership, pay, work-life balance and other issues. Some key recent data points from OMB include:

• 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government overall score and rank: 76.1 out of 100, ranking 9 out of 30 small agencies

• 2023 Effective Leadership Score: 78.4 out of 100, ranking 10 out of 30 small agencies

The Partnership also produces and maintains several resources to assess and analyze the health of the federal government. Last month, the organization launched a political appointments tracker with The Washington Post to follow the progress of roughly 800 of President Trump’s Senate-confirmed political appointments. Additionally, our Agency Performance Dashboards, provide an “at a glance” summary of the health of 33 federal agencies and departments, while our Vision for a Better Government provides areas of focus for management reforms.

During the past 24 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. We work across administrations to help transform the way government works by providing agencies with the data insights they need to succeed, developing effective leaders, inspiring the next generation to public service, facilitating smooth presidential transitions and recognizing exceptional federal employees.

Visit ourpublicservice.org, follow us @PublicService and subscribe today to get the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more.

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