U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–100 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

S. Hrg. 115–427 

NOMINATION OF MARGARET M. WEICHERT 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOMINATION OF MARGARET M. WEICHERT TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR 

FOR MANAGEMENT, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET 

DECEMBER 14, 2017 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov/ 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

( 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

JON TESTER, Montana 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Staff Director 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Chief Counsel 

DAVID N. BREWER, Chief Investigative Counsel 

JOHN D. CUADERES, Staff Director, Subcommittee on 

Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management 

MARGARET E. DAUM, Minority Staff Director 

PHYLICIA L. WOODS, Minority Counsel 

CLAUDINE J. BRENNER, Minority Counsel 

JOSEPH L. LINDBLAD, Minority Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee 

on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

BONNI E. DINERSTEIN, Hearing Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statements: Page 

Senator Lankford .............................................................................................. 1 

Senator Peters .................................................................................................. 2 

Senator Hassan ................................................................................................. 8 

Senator Carper ................................................................................................. 10 

Senator Heitkamp ............................................................................................ 13 

Prepared statement: 

Senator Peters .................................................................................................. 21 

WITNESSES 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017 

Margaret M. Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 3 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 23 

Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 26 

Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 45 

Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 48 

Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 73 

Letter of support ............................................................................................... 99 

(1) 

NOMINATION OF MARGARET M. WEICHERT 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 342, 

Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. James Lankford presiding. 

Present: Senators Lankford, Daines, McCaskill, Carper, Tester, 

Heitkamp, Peters, Hassan, and Harris. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANKFORD 

Senator LANKFORD. Good morning, everyone. Today we are considering the nomination of Margaret Weichert to be the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

The Committee takes these nominations very seriously and we 

are pleased to have a strong nominee before us today for this critical leadership role. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management (RAFM), I can tell you I 

am particularly interested in the work of the Office of Management 

and Budget. 

Ms. Weichert comes to government service after a highly successful career in the private sector, where she was a leader in the financial and electronic payment technologies, an entrepreneur, a 

proven executive. Throughout her career she has demonstrated 

particular skill at strategic planning and policy implementation, as 

well as leading large departments of people. 

Ms. Weichert received her bachelor of science from Georgetown 

School of Foreign Service in 1989. She then went on to study economics as a Rotary Scholar at the University of Sussex, and later 

earned her MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in 

1995. 

Ms. Weichert began her career at Accenture in 1995, her work 

there focusing on the fast-changing world of e-commerce, which has 

changed quite a bit since 1995. Ms. Weichert took this experience 

and used it to launch her first of her own companies, Achex. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Achex. 

Senator LANKFORD [continuing]. Achex; got it—an alternative 

electronic payment company, which she later successfully sold to 

First Data Corporation. After time at First Data Corporation, Ms. 

Weichert continued her prestigious career at Bank of America, before leaving to found her own consulting group, the Morgan 

Weichert Group, while also serving as a principal at two other 
2 

1The prepared statement of Senator Peters appears in the Appendix on page 21. 

consultancies, Market Platform Dynamics and the Global Economics Group. Most recently, Ms. Weichert was a principal at Ernst & 

Young. 

Ms. Weichert, thank you for being here today, for bringing your 

business acumen to the Federal Government service. I look forward 

to hearing more about you and your plan to bring these successes 

and these experiences, and the wisdom that you bring with it to 

bear for the support of the mission of the Office of Management 

and Budget. 

Committee staff reached out to a variety of your colleagues and 

affiliates, as you know well, because they probably called you right 

after committee staff talked to them. All of those individuals that 

we talked to spoke very highly of you. Committee staff also had the 

opportunity to be able to interview Ms. Weichert on an array of 

issues. Ms. Weichert has thoughtfully and competently answered 

each question put to her as part of the vetting process. 

To date, the Committee has found you to be qualified for the position to which you have been nominated so we are moving on to 

this level and this layer of the process. 

Again, we look forward to hearing more from you during this 

hearing, and I will recognize Ranking Member Peters for his opening statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PETERS1

Senator PETERS. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, 

Ms. Weichert, for being here today and for your willingness to 

serve as well. 

In reviewing your qualifications, I noticed your particular expertise and interest in payments technology and modernization. That 

is something that I have actually been personally working on here 

in the Senate, and I hope that it is something that we can work 

on together in the future, should you be confirmed. 

As we consider your nomination, I want to acknowledge the 

widespread agreement in this room today that we should always be 

finding ways to work together in a bipartisan way to make government more efficient and more effective for the American people. 

This Committee has a strong record of bipartisanship accomplishment and holding government officials accountable, protecting 

whistleblowers, empowering the inspector general community, cutting unnecessary red tape, and conducting diligent oversight to root 

out instances of waste, fraud, and abuse. 

That is what I am looking out for, as the Ranking Member of the 

Federal Spending Oversight (FSO) Subcommittee of this Committee, and I know the Deputy Director for Management position 

at OMB plays a very important role in this effort as well. 

We need to make sure that we empower Federal Agencies with 

the resources, the talent, and the expertise that they need to carry 

out their critical missions instead of undermining them or making 

blunt policy choices, while also looking out for opportunities to reduce inefficiencies, streamline government operations, and avoid 

duplications of effort. 
3 

1The prepared statement of Ms. Weichert appears in the Appendix on page 23. 

Ms. Weichert, I hope you share these goals and I look forward 

to hearing more about your management agenda and your specific 

plans for improving the Federal Government procurement policies, 

the information technology (IT) systems, and financial and personal 

management practices. We should approach these issues remembering that we have been entrusted as stewards of the taxpayer 

dollars and that we should work together so that government 

works for everyone. 

Again, I look forward to your testimony. 

Senator LANKFORD. Ms. Weichert, it is the custom of the Committee to swear in all witnesses that appear before us, so if you 

would not mind, please stand and raise your right hand. 

Do you swear that the testimony that you will give before this 

Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 

truth, so help you, God? 

Ms. WEICHERT. I do. 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you. You may be seated. Let the 

record reflect that the witness answered in the affirmative. 

Ms. Weichert, we would like to recognize you for your opening 

statement and then we would like to be able to just ask some follow up questions from there. If you do not mind, during your opening statement, to also introduce any family or friends that have 

joined you, so this Committee can get a chance to see some of those 

folks, and you can recognize some people that have traveled a long 

way to be able to be here with you. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Sure. 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you. 

TESTIMONY OF MARGARET H. WEICHERT1 TO BE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND 

BUDGET 

Ms. WEICHERT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to 

thank you, the Ranking Member, and the Members of the Committee for your gracious welcome. 

It is an honor to appear today before this Committee as the 

nominee for Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. I would also like to thank my family for joining today. My two boys, James and Andrew are here getting a reallife civics lesson, and my parents, Ed and Mary Alice Morgan, are 

here from wintry upstate New York to support me. It is even more 

special because today is my mother’s birthday, so happy birthday, 

Mom. 

Senator CARPER. You know that means we are going to have to 

ask really tough questions. No softballs on her birthday. [Laughter.] 

Ms. WEICHERT. I really appreciate their support and encouragement, in spite of long hours and much time spent away from home. 

My motivation to leave our home in Georgia and the private sector for a role in Washington is rooted in a long family tradition of 

public service. I am following in the footsteps of family members 

who served the country through military service, elected office, in 

State government, and in the Postal Service. 
4 

I would also like to thank the Members of this Committee and 

their staffs for meeting with me and sharing perspectives on key 

management issues facing our country. If confirmed, I look forward 

to working with you to identify and implement innovative management solutions. Finally, I would like to thank the President and 

OMB Director Mulvaney for inviting me to serve. I feel humbled 

and honored as I embark on my first experience in public service. 

The Deputy Director for Management is an important role 

charged with leading a broad range of disciplines that provide the 

management foundation for the core missions of government. In 

and of themselves, functions like IT, information security, human 

capital management, finance, accounting, performance management, and procurement may not be inherently exciting, but these 

functions provide necessary and essential capabilities needed to 

support the work of government agencies. 

The management function at OMB is challenged to use a factbased approach to balance financial stewardship and efficiency 

with effectiveness and transparency. Government agency missions 

vary widely, but all rely on management capabilities. Whether rescuing families and their dogs, cats, and livestock from fires in California or floodwaters in Texas, helping small businesses compete 

for government contracts, or allowing farmers to efficiently get 

loans or crop insurance, or supporting the health care needs of our 

veterans, the business of government in every case relies on mission-critical management services. 

Twenty-plus years in the private sector should position me well 

to drive transformational change and better align Federal Government management capabilities to the realities and needs of the 

21st Century. Building on an academic background in economics, 

management, and finance, I have spent the last 20-plus years driving customer and shareholder value in publicly traded companies 

and as an entrepreneur. I have direct experience with P&L management, budgeting, capital allocation, new product development, 

innovation, risk and compliance, financial reporting and analytics, 

and business development. I have done these activities as an employee of two large publicly traded companies, Bank of America 

and First Data, and as a consultant to large publicly traded companies in the financial services, financial technology, and retail industries. 

In these private sector roles, I have been privileged to use a wide 

range of leading practices, including Six Sigma, Design for Six 

Sigma, Agile development, business process automation, and usercentered design to create and implement complex transformational 

change agendas with strong positive financial and customer experience impacts. 

In all my private sector roles, I have sought to bring a spirit of 

innovation and a passion for doing the right thing, to drive breakthrough results and thinking. I have led large teams of diverse talent to achieve results that even they did not believe possible. And 

I have been as excited about innovating and support areas, like 

payments, accounts payable, and commercial cash management, as 

I have been about innovations in mobile banking or online payments. Many of these innovations, even in non-customer-facing 
5 

areas, were innovative enough to result in 14 successful U.S. patents. 

My hope, if confirmed, is to bring this spirit of innovation, combined with private sector practices, to driver greater efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in Federal management functions. 

Moreover, I would like to build on existing management successes 

to create and implement a transformational vision for the 21st 

Century management. 

Through the President’s Management Agenda and the President’s Management Council, if confirmed, I would focus on three 

transformation areas. The first would be IT modernization; the second, data accountability and transparency; the third, people and 

the workforce for the 21st Century. 

In conclusion, I would like to thank you for your input and consideration. If confirmed as Deputy Director for Management, I look 

forward to working with you to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the Federal Government through improvements in management competencies. 

Thank you again. I look forward to answering your questions. 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you. Ms. Weichert, I need to ask three 

mandatory questions that we ask of all nominees before they come 

before this Committee and then I am going to defer questions to 

the end, and the Ranking Member Peters will then ask questions. 

The first question, is there anything that you are aware of in 

your background that might present a conflict of interest with the 

duties of the office to which you have been nominated? 

Ms. WEICHERT. No. 

Senator LANKFORD. Do you know of anything personal or otherwise that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably 

discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you have been 

nominated? 

Ms. WEICHERT. No. 

Senator LANKFORD. Last question, do you agree, without reservation, to comply with any request or summons to appear and testify 

before any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you very much. Ranking Member Peters. 

Senator PETERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Ms. Weichert, I would like to confirm that a few of the answers 

in your questionnaire remain the same today as you appear before 

us. 

As you know, conducting oversight of the Executive Branch is 

one of the most critical functions of this Committee, and so I am 

going to read you a few questions from your questionnaire and just 

to ask whether you would respond yes or no in public today. 

If confirmed, do you agree, without reservation, to reply to any 

reasonable request for information from the Ranking Member of 

any duly constituted committee of Congress? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator PETERS. If confirmed, do you agree, without reservation, 

to reply to any reasonable request for information from Members 

of Congress, generally, regardless of party affiliation? 
6 

Ms. WEICHERT. So I look forward to working with Congress on 

all of the issues that are relevant to this Committee and to others, 

and I seek to be as open and proactive in sharing responses and 

working with those Members. 

Senator PETERS. The question said reasonable requests, so are 

you open to working—— 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator PETERS [continuing]. On reasonable requests? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator PETERS. Thank you. If confirmed, do you commit to take 

all reasonable steps to ensure that you and your agency comply 

with deadlines established by Members of Congress for a request 

of information? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator PETERS. Well thank you. 

Ms. Weichert, the position you are nominated for is the thirdhighest ranking position at OMB, and you have indicated in your 

questionnaire that you expect Director Mulvaney to delegate responsibility for much of OMB’s management agenda to you? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator PETERS. So that being said, since the time you have completed your questionnaire, Director Mulvaney has chosen to accept 

another role, as also the acting Director at the Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau (CFPB). As far as we know, for the time being, 

he is only planning to be around the OMB maybe a couple of days, 

maybe three. We are not sure how much time he is actually going 

to be at OMB. And I certainly did not realize that the Director of 

the Office of Management Budget as a part-time job, but apparently it is a part-time job now. 

But Ms. Weichert, do you believe that the position of OMB Director should be a full-time job or a part-time job? 

Ms. WEICHERT. I believe it is a full-time job and I believe the Director is operating two full-time jobs. He has experience doing that 

in the private sector as well, when he was running a small business. So, absolutely, I believe it is a full-time job. 

Senator PETERS. So a 40-hour work week? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. The Director is working two full, all-day, 

every-day jobs. 

Senator PETERS. OK. Although you expect to become the point 

person for key management functions at OMB, if confirmed, what 

do you intend to do if the Director is just not there and you need 

to have a face-to-face conversation with the Director, and he is on 

his day working, or maybe not there? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So business as usual is continuing at OMB since 

the announcement a couple of weeks back, and I have not, in my 

role as senior advisor, had any challenges being in touch with the 

Director. He is highly responsive to all the requests that the Management Office has had. So, he is responding to emails, and his actual physical location is literally across the street, so there has not 

been any challenges in that regard. 

Senator PETERS. To what extent have you discussed this dual hat 

arrangement with the Director, and how would you expect, as your 

role as Deputy Director for Management to change if he remains 

at the CFPB, if this part-time job continues for the long time? 
7 

Ms. WEICHERT. So I have not had a private conversation with the 

Director on this topic, but in sharing with the staff broadly at the 

OMB, he made it very clear a couple of things, that he takes the 

independence in both roles very seriously, and he anticipates working both jobs in full-time capacity. And, again, I do not foresee any 

challenges and have not seen any major shifts in how the organization is operating. 

Senator PETERS. Very well. To be effective and secure in cyberspace, every Federal department and agency requires a modern, defensible network architecture. Yet today, even though the Federal 

Government spends about $80 billion every year on IT, nearly 

every government agency procures and manages its own IT infrastructure, as I know you are aware. This means that each agency 

independently identifies and assesses possible vendors, which often 

results in significant duplication, huge price variances across the 

government, and also inconsistent security outcomes. 

The Obama Administration began to address this challenge by 

beginning to transition toward cloud technologies and other shared 

security services, and you have indicated in your testimony, both 

written as well as orally here today that IT modernization will be 

a major priority for you, if you are confirmed. 

So if confirmed, would you tell us more specifically what you 

would do to reduce the cost and achieve operational efficiencies 

needed to meet today’s significant cyber security challenges? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you for the question and I really appreciate it. It is an absolutely urgent issue facing the country. 

There are a couple of things that really jump to mind. I think 

a lot of the work that has already happened around moving to the 

cloud, and shared services focus heavily on improvements in efficiency. I also think, in reference to the point you made about paying different amounts across government for effectively the same 

service, there is an initiative around technology business management (TBM), looking at creating data standardization and taxonomy across government, so we really can compare like with like 

and get the best deal for the American people. I think that is another major initiative that I think is linked to the challenge that 

you raised there. 

Senator PETERS. Are you concerned that the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) position remains unfilled? 

Ms. WEICHERT. One of my priorities, if confirmed, would be to 

really get all of the positions filled, and I know the Director is actively working on doing so. So I would absolutely want to see that 

position filled as soon as possible. 

Senator PETERS. And there are many unfilled positions all across 

Federal Government, in these CIO positions. You will be working 

to fill those as well, or at least expressing the urgency of getting 

these vital positions filled? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Absolutely expressing the urgency. I think it is 

quite obvious, when I have met with the Chief Information Officer 

Council (CIOC) that that is a critical need, and actually elevating 

the profile of CIOs in government is something that I think is very 

important. 

Senator PETERS. Great. Thank you so much. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Thank you. 
8 

Senator LANKFORD. Senator Hassan. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN 

Senator HASSAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and 

Ranking Member, and good morning and congratulations on your 

nomination, and congratulations and thank you to your family as 

well. This is a family commitment and affair, and thank you for 

sharing, and particularly to your sons, thank you for sharing your 

mom with us. 

Ms. Weichert, if you are confirmed as Deputy Director, you will 

be responsible for overseeing program evaluation activities. This 

evaluation of programs net effects, their successes and failures, and 

improvement strategies is absolutely critical to ensuring that we 

are putting Federal dollars to their best possible use, on scaling 

back or eliminating ones that do not work. As you said earlier, 

most of your experience has been in the private sector where I am 

sure you evaluated programs and procedure regularly, and you 

have now also spent some time as a senior advisor at OMB. 

Based on your experience in and out of government, how do you 

think we should be evaluating government programs? What 

metrics should we be using, and do our existing evaluation tools 

capture the right information? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you, Senator. I appreciate the question. 

I think it is a very important question. In my role as senior advisor, I have gotten familiarity with some of the metrics that are in 

place and some of the tools that are used for oversight and accountability around our programs. There are a number of websites that 

share data with the public. There is spending.gov. There is 

paymentaccuracy.gov. 

And one of my priorities in the second sort of pillar I mentioned 

around data accountability and transparency would really be to understand and get a baseline of all of those metrics, all of the elements of data that we are sharing, both internal to government 

and externally, and get a taxonomy and a framework so that we 

can efficiently and effectively report without creating undue burden 

on agencies—— 

Senator HASSAN. Right. 

Ms. WEICHERT [continuing]. But actually get to actionable intelligence. And I think that is maybe the most important thing. I see 

a lot of reporting. I am not yet clear on exactly which things are 

most effective—— 

Senator HASSAN. Right. 

Ms. WEICHERT [continuing]. And that would be a priority for me. 

Senator HASSAN. OK. That makes sense. There have been some 

proposals to devote a portion of every program’s funding to actually 

evaluating the program. Do you support that kind of proposal? 

Ms. WEICHERT. I have not seen the specific proposal so I do not 

know in detail. What I can say is it is a leading practice to have 

evaluation and QA capabilities built into programs broadly. 

Senator HASSAN. Yes. 

Ms. WEICHERT. But I would want to see what the proposal looked 

like. 

Senator HASSAN. Yes. I mean, one of the things that strikes me 

is we really do not necessarily go through an evaluation process 
9 

with so many of our programs in a meaningful way, partly because 

coordination and evaluation takes resources—— 

Ms. WEICHERT. Absolutely. 

Senator HASSAN [continuing]. And it takes focus. And so you 

have to figure out a way to devote those kind of resources up front, 

and that what might be one way to do it. 

I wanted to turn now to another priority you talked about broadly. We know that we are going through rapid change in this economy, and automation poses some challenges for us in the Federal 

Government. As a member of both this Committee and the Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee, I am cognizant 

of the need for both the Federal and private workforces to address 

the challenges that automation may cause for workers in the coming decades, from putting formerly paper forms online to digitizing 

parts of the customs process in international airports. We can already see the impact of automation on many areas of Federal Government. 

Given your background in online transactions, a field that has 

changed dramatically in the past decade due to advanced technology, I expect this is something you have given some thought to 

as well. So what do you see as the biggest challenges facing the 

Federal Government when it comes to automation? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So I think this is actually a pivotal piece of making progress, because I have heard, anecdotally, as senior advisor, 

many instances where we have actually, in government, shied 

away from the right technology solution or efficiency solution or 

customer experience solution because we did not have an easy way 

to deal with the people who are currently performing that function. 

I actually believe that is a linchpin to moving forward on both 

the efficiency and the customer experience agenda. So reskilling—— 

Senator HASSAN. Right. 

Ms. WEICHERT [continuing]. Is critical—— 

Senator HASSAN. Yes. 

Ms. WEICHERT [continuing]. And there are a number of places in 

government, cyber being one of the ones that Senator Peters mentioned, customer experience is another one, data science is another, 

where if we have great Federal employees doing a function that 

was really about what was, status quo in the 1950s—— 

Senator HASSAN. Yes. 

Ms. WEICHERT [continuing]. How do we bring those people into 

jobs that are relevant in the 21st Century? 

Senator HASSAN. Well, and that is music to my ears, because I 

think there is a win-win here. Often people see this as a binary 

choice. You either automate or you keep your employees. And, in 

fact, we know we need skilled employees in so many growing areas, 

and you kind of brought me to my last area of concern, which is 

cyber security, and following up on what you and Senator Peters 

were talking about. 

It is one thing to understand it as a priority and to understand, 

perhaps, that the separate purchasing activities of various agencies 

means we have decentralized and inconsistent levels of cyber security throughout Federal Government. I would suggest that that 

may be true in business and in State government as well. 
10 

But how do we not only prioritize cyber security, putting in the 

right platforms to improve it, but how do we go about engaging in 

cyber security, really in the ongoing way that we know it has to 

happen? There are daily attacks on systems everywhere. We have 

ongoing technology that we need to understand, to practice the 

kind of cyber hygiene that is so important. 

So how do we change our culture around cyber security and then 

make sure we have the skill sets on board that will really allow 

us to be at the forefront? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you for that question. Absolutely a critical element of the IT modernization strategy that I believe we 

need to pursue, and if confirmed, I would very proactively pursue. 

I think using some of the new authorities that Congress has included in the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) bill that 

hopefully will be signed into law soon, as well as the IT Modernization Fund, hopefully will be appropriated, will allow us to hopefully 

shine the light on key projects that will help make it easier for 

agencies to prioritize these activities. 

And I think what was in the MGT, allowing working capital 

funds to be used and reinvested in key technology priorities, is another area. Obviously, I think it is a large area and it is one that 

deserves deeper, richer study, both leveraging learnings from the 

private sector but also leveraging what have been those barriers to 

that in government. And I would look forward to working with this 

Committee and others in Congress to get that fact base so we can 

really move from kind of contemplation into action. 

Senator HASSAN. Well thank you very much, and thank you, Mr. 

Chair, for your indulgence. I am a bit over. 

Senator LANKFORD. Senator Carper. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARPER 

Senator CARPER. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To our 

witness, to our nominee, welcome and congratulations. Thank you 

for spending some time with my staff and me in the past week. 

I just want to say to your sons, James and Andrew—what are 

they, 17 and 14? 

Ms. WEICHERT. 17 and 13, yes. 

Senator CARPER. 17 and 13. And they go to school where, in 

Georgia? 

Ms. WEICHERT. No. They go to school in Falls Church. 

Senator CARPER. Oh, OK. Good. I just want to thank you for your 

willingness to miss school today. 

Ms. WEICHERT. [Laughs.] 

Senator CARPER. Being here with your mom, to have her back. 

That is good. And to be with your grandmother on her birthday. 

I always called my mom on her birthday, for years and years. And 

she passed away about a decade ago at the tender age of 83. And 

I would also call her every year on my birthday, to thank her for 

bringing me into the world. Those were very special conversations. 

So I know you are especially proud of your daughter, Ms. Morgan, 

and Mr. Morgan. 

When we talked the other day, I think I mentioned I once had 

the pleasure of being Governor of Delaware for about 8 years and 

was very active in the National Governors Association (NGA). One 
11 

of the things we did at the National Governors Association, every 

2 years, right after the election, within 2 weeks after the election, 

the current Governors and spouses would host the new Governors, 

the Governors-elect, and their spouses, at new Governor school, at 

some place around the country. And it was just three full days of 

the old guys and gals sort of bearing their souls and explaining to 

the new folks all the mistakes we had made, and what we had 

learned from those mistakes, in hope that the new folks would not 

make the same mistakes. 

You have the opportunity—we do not have a new OMB Deputy 

Director of Management school for newbies, but you do have a good 

bench to draw from, and Beth Cobert is one of the names I have 

mentioned to you. I think you may have spoken with her. Another 

fellow, Brian Deese. They are both back in the private sector. Beth 

used to run McKinsey & Company’s operations out on the West 

Coast and she is back in the private sector now. She is just brilliant. And Brian Deese is as well. 

Another source—and I think I have mentioned this to you, and 

I think you have already reached out to the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—you will not find a better public servant than 

Gene Dodaro, and the leadership that he provides there is, I think, 

incredible. 

One of the things that a fellow named Coburn, we used to have 

a Republican on this Committee. His name was Tom Coburn from 

Oklahoma. And he was always interested in doing the right thing. 

He did not like to waste money, and I think certainly the three of 

us sitting here feel the same way. 

And one of the things that Tom and I would do, along with our 

colleagues, is we realized that we are just one oversight committee, 

but to the extent that we could partner with GAO, to the extent 

that we could partner with OMB, to the extent we could partner 

with inspectors general (IGs) around the Federal Government, we 

could get a lot more done. 

And you mentioned that you have a passion. What would you 

bring to this job? A spirit of innovation and passion for doing the 

right thing. We need to do the right thing. We need to find fiscally 

responsible ways to do the right thing. And in meeting with you, 

my sense is that is what you would like to do, and we want to be 

helpful and supportive of that. 

You have a position, a CIO position, is that right, that it has not 

been filled, or you will? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Right. 

Senator CARPER. Yes. And there is a woman named Phyllis 

Schneck that my colleagues may or may not remember. She came 

out of the private sector. She worked in cyber for Homeland Security. I will meet actually meet with her, talk with her later today. 

And she is back in the private sector. She is brilliant, and I think 

somebody who would contribute a huge amount, in the short time 

she was with the Federal Government, and I think could do more 

so. Those are a couple of names that I would just bring to your attention. 

One of the things that we have worked on in this committee forever is improper payments. We focus a lot on the high-risk list. 

And Tom Coburn and I used to take the high-risk list as our to- 
12 

do list. One of the things on the high-risk list forever has been 

property, real property management, and that is an area where we 

have made pretty good progress. Rob Portman and others on this 

Committee, along with me, have focused a whole lot on property 

management and making sure that we are doing a better job. 

You will inherit, I think, a better plan in place, a better system 

in place to deal with the property management, and I would just 

ask you to take it to the next level. And I think it is sort of teed 

up for you to do that. 

I do not know if we mentioned when we met, we have jurisdiction, this Committee, on Homeland Security Department. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), I will just say to James and 

Andrew, it was created right after September 11, 2001. It has 

about 240,000 people who are part of the Department of Homeland 

Security, but they are spread all over the world. They are also 

spread all over the greater metropolitan Washington area. It is a 

terribly inefficient way, a very hard way—John Kelly would tell 

you, as the former Secretary. Jeh Johnson would tell you, as the 

former Secretary. Tom Ridge would tell you. Janet Napolitano 

would tell you. It is an impossible management situation, to manage that many people, just spread all over hell’s half acre. 

And there is a property called St. Elizabeths which is here and 

actually in Washington, D.C. Old property. And the last administration, actually, suggested that it would be a good place to create 

a headquarters for Department of Homeland Security. I first heard 

about it—I saw this as a crazy idea. As it turns out it is not. The 

General Services Administration (GSA) figured out a way to save 

a lot of money, putting a lot of people in that large space, that 

large campus. And we have invested a couple billion dollars, and 

we basically—it is now like dead in the water, almost dead in the 

water, which is, I think, just a shame. 

And you are going to hear a little bit more a little later on about 

St. Elizabeths, and DHS, they need a home. They need a way. 

Whoever was the Secretary there, Kirstjen is just confirmed, they 

are going to need some attention to this. So I just bring it to your 

attention. 

Talk to us about improper payments, just a little bit if you 

would. Every year, for every 2 years, for years, we have heard 

about improper payments. We have done a lot to deal with improper payments. Any thoughts that you would share with us on 

how to approach that? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Sure. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate your 

thoughts and your thoughtfulness. 

Senator CARPER. Sorry to ramble so much. 

Ms. WEICHERT. No. I appreciated the thought. 

As it happens, payments is something I care a lot about. My observations about what are termed ‘‘improper payments’’ here in 

government really constitutes three major categories. One is the actual fraud and abuse, the second are errors, so payments that are 

in the wrong amount or to the wrong address, things of that nature, and then the third are payments that do not have sufficient 

documentation. And I think the solutions to those three distinct 

categories are somewhat different. 
13 

The Do Not Pay database, I think, has been a really useful tool, 

from my observation, and I think extending that more broadly in 

government and also to State and local governments, and that is 

in the works, that seems like a really great idea to address specific 

issues around the fraud and abuse piece. 

I think the two other pieces have a lot to do with process improvement activities, and, frankly, I have not seen a lot of the root 

cause issues, and they seem to vary a lot agency to agency. So, if 

confirmed, I would welcome the opportunity to dig deeper and look 

for solutions in those areas. 

Senator CARPER. All right. Thank you. If I could have maybe 30 

more seconds, Mr. Chairman, could I? 

Senator LANKFORD. I will have to bring that up with Senator 

Heitkamp. We will have to decide together. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Go for it. 

Senator CARPER. We just learned this past week the Department 

of Defense (DOD), after years of being badgered by us, this Committee, is going to try to achieve a full audit. They have not done 

that ever, since 1947. And you may want to keep an eye on them, 

make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. 

The other thing is we are looking at a request for defense spending increase over the next 10 years of, I do not know, $600 billion 

or more, and we spend more than the next 10 nations combined on 

defense. Is not that amazing? The United States spends more on 

defense than the next 10 nations combined, and we have a request 

for another $600-plus billion. DOD has never achieved an audit, an 

unqualified audit, and they have huge cost overruns for major 

weapons systems, spare parts, all kinds of problems. I would just 

ask you to keep an eye on them. I am a retired Navy captain, love 

the Navy, love the military, but in a day and age when we are trying to do things more efficiently, DOD has to be a big part of that 

as well. 

Thank you. Good luck. We look forward to working with you. And 

again to your family, a special thanks for being with us today, and 

having her back, raising her the way that you have done that, and 

for her kids, continuing to raise you. All right. Thank you. 

Senator LANKFORD. Senator Heitkamp. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HEITKAMP 

Senator HEITKAMP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 

coming and thanks to your family for providing you with the support. 

I am always amazed that one of the biggest challenges we have 

in the Federal Government is improving efficiency, convincing the 

taxpayers that we are, in fact, serious about making sure that 

every dime that is spent is spent in the right direction, and that 

we do have their best fiscal interest at heart. But yet, these sometimes are lonely meetings for me and the Chairman, as we work 

through a lot of these issues. And so we care deeply, especially on 

our subcommittee, about the role you will play in improving efficiency, responding to GAO, responding to IGs, really pushing, as 

the former Ranking Member Carper said, really pushing to make 

sure that the to-do list actually gets accomplished. 
14 

I have a concern. Ever since OMB has announced that they are, 

in fact, looking at reorganization, and every Cabinet position is 

doing this—we have been doing oversight but yet we have not been 

able to get anyone from OMB to give us a status report. And, they 

are the people who are on point on this, and I think if we are going 

to be successful doing our oversight, we definitely need cooperation 

from OMB. And I am little concerned that we are not getting it 

right now. 

So, I am going to ask you a series of questions, and just yes or 

no. You do not have to expound on them, but I think they would 

be pretty easy. 

Do you believe it is important for the talent, mission, and morale 

of our Federal workforce to accomplish the goals of the Federal 

Government, to have high morale? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Do you believe it is OK to sacrifice talent, 

mission, and morale for the sake of reducing workforce through attrition? 

Ms. WEICHERT. I am sorry. Could you restate the question? 

Senator HEITKAMP. Attrition is typically, we are not going to hire 

anyone. A lot of times what you see in attrition is that the most 

valuable employee is the one who walks out the door, and that is 

a role we desperately need to fill. So if we are going to reduce 

workforce it should be more strategic. Would you agree with 

that—— 

Ms. WEICHERT. I agree. Absolutely. 

Senator HEITKAMP [continuing]. That attrition is not necessarily 

the way to reduce Federal workforce? 

Ms. WEICHERT. If you lose your best talent, absolutely not. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Will the reorganization process be stronger if 

OMB gives Federal employees and stakeholders a voice in the process and ensures that they understand the goals of the effort, as 

well as how it will be executed? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So as senior advisor, I have not been involved directly in the reorganization process, so I am not super informed on 

the specifics of who is involved. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Yes. I will tell you this. I have gone through, 

in my role in State government I managed several agencies. I was 

never successful without involving the people who actually do the 

work. And there is a concern that this is going to be top-down without actually getting folks who do the work day to day involved. And 

so I would strongly recommend that it is important that you do 

things with employees and not to them. And so just a little bit of 

advice there. 

Will the reorganization process be stronger if OMB works to 

make sure Congress understands its goals? 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Yes. So I think when we go through kind of 

these lists of questions, it is important that you understand, from 

my perspective, why I am concerned about this reorganization and 

why I need to have more information. So, if confirmed, will you 

commit to getting up to speed on the reorganization and to providing testimony or input back to this Committee or the Subcommittee? 
15 

Ms. WEICHERT. So if confirmed I expect I would be getting more 

involved and getting up to speed to it, and I would look to work 

collaboratively with this Committee and relevant other committees 

on an open exchange. 

Senator HEITKAMP. I hope we can expedite your confirmation. I 

find you perfectly well qualified. There is a larger role of oversight 

that OMB plays with this Committee and when we do not get the 

information back from OMB I do not think we can perform the responsibility that we have on the other half of the Committee’s 

name, which is government affairs. 

So another issue that I have worked on has been the Program 

Management Improvement and Accountability Act, which is something I penned and co-authored with my colleague, Senator Ernst. 

It was signed into law. We are now in that process of seeing implementation, and definitely believe that this was an important piece 

of legislation, needs to be implemented correctly. 

And so I just want to ask you a series of questions. The law had 

many one year deadlines, and some of those have slipped and we 

have not seen the level of attention. So, if confirmed, how will you 

take leadership on and execute your responsibilities under the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you, Senator. As senior advisor, I have 

not been involved in any of the issues around that particular legislation. If confirmed, I would seek to get a baseline on where we are 

and what, if any, roadblocks there are to effectively complying with 

the law and also really ensuring that the spirit of what was intended is being achieved. 

Senator HEITKAMP. I think the Chairman has talked about his 

visits to Federal agencies and his oversight that he does day to 

day, and, we cannot underestimate what a bad manager does to efficiency, what a bad manager does to morale, and that this is intended not to be a blunt instrument but intended to be very strategic. And if we do not have buy-in and enforcement and a commitment at OMB, we will not realize the benefit of this kind of focus. 

And so I really would appreciate this becoming a higher priority 

over at OMB once you get over there, or once you are confirmed 

into this position. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. I look forward to working with you on this, 

if confirmed. 

Senator HEITKAMP. OK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you, Senator Heitkamp. 

Ms. Weichert, as I have mentioned before, this should be a familiar spot for you in conversation with Senator Heitkamp and I, because we have a long stack of questions. And as I visited with Mick 

Mulvaney in the days before, and have said how can we learn more 

about the restructuring process—we have already done two hearings on it. And, by the way, in both hearings we had very good 

input from the agencies saying that it seems OMB is listening, they 

are getting feedback from the individuals that work in the agency. 

I think that is exceptionally important. I learn more about an agency walking around through the cubicle farm, visiting with everyone 

there, than I learn by talking to the managers, most of the time. 

So getting that input is exceptionally important to be able to make 

sure any structural changes are made with wisdom in it. 
16 

But as I have asked Mick Mulvaney, point blank, and said, ‘‘Who 

will be the point person to help us walk through that?’’ he has said 

to me, ‘‘The person that still needs to be confirmed. Ms. Weichert 

is going to be the one that will be the point person for this in the 

days ahead.’’ 

So I know you have been separated out from that, but we are 

looking forward to you getting up to speed on it and so we can find 

ways to be able to help in this. Any lasting positive change does 

not happen with just administrative actions. It happens when it 

functions through Congress. 

So we look forward to not only seeing the reports, your counsel 

on it, your advice once you see it, but then actually bringing it here 

and so we can have the opportunity to be able to have input and 

to start trying to be able to implement this from a congressional 

level. 

Stability in government is both a friend and an enemy. It is an 

enemy in times when we are stuck. It is a friend in the times that 

there is predictability for the employees to be able to know their 

job and what to be able to do. So we want to help in that. That 

is not necessarily a question, but is certainly a sense that we are 

looking forward to ongoing conversation on this in the days ahead, 

as you work through this. 

Let me talk a little bit about cooperation across agencies. OMB 

has a unique responsibility that each agency head takes care of all 

the leadership there, but OMB has the responsibility of looking at 

all agencies and saying we have five of basically the same things 

happening in five different agencies, with slightly different titles. 

We have to figure out how to do greater efficiency here, or how to 

figure out how to get two entities that could help each other actually helping each other. 

You brought up one of those already, the Do Not Pay list. We 

have pounded for years on the wonderfully named Death Master 

File (DMF) that is out there. That was sequestered away in one entity and not shared with others, and so we have people sending 

checks out to people that another agency knows have been long 

since dead for 10 years, but no one else has shared the information. 

Here is my question. How can you help us break down some of 

those silos, getting agencies actually talking to each other, and 

having enough authority in your role leading management to be 

able to say, ‘‘You and you are going to play well together and you 

have to share information’’? How does that happen? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you for the question and the comments, 

Senator. This is actually not a unique challenge to government, 

and, in fact, the Death Master File issue is an issue for banks, for 

different reasons. But if someone calls into a bank, like Bank of 

America, and tells them that someone is deceased, they do not 

want to be getting bills from another part of that same organization. 

So what I have done in the private sector, and I think works 

well, is rather than leading with a mandate from the top is using 

facts to help create stories about how the various components will 

win by pulling together, and also getting facts about what are the 

structural impediments. I know there are privacy considerations 

and other previous statutes put in place, for good reasons, to pre-
17 

vent untoward use of data. But to really understand, OK, what is 

the spirit of that original intent, and then what does it prevent 

that we might like to do today, and that is, I think, an area where 

proactively I would see, if confirmed, leading the analysis to get 

identification of those ideas, and then working with Congress to 

say what is the right way to punch through some of those ideas so 

we can make real progress. 

Senator LANKFORD. Yes. We have to make real progress on this 

and it has been a great frustration. For years, I have asked the 

Census Bureau why they cannot cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS gathers information from just about 

every American every April. The Census does it once every 10 

years. And for some reason the two of them cannot seem to talk 

to each other, so that every 10 years when we do our taxes, we are 

also completing our census at the same time. Now that does not 

seem like a radical concept to me, but for years I have worked with 

Census, and for years they have said they are studying it. 

If there is some legislative barrier there that does not allow the 

two of them to cooperate, we just need to know so we can get it 

fixed. But that is billions of dollars in the Census creating a structure that the IRS already has in place, and while we will not capture every single person, I bet we capture more than the original 

mail-in does from Census. That is one example of a lot of them. We 

just need someone looking at the whole structure and saying how 

can we work better together on this. 

You and I have spoken, as well, about the hiring authorities. 

There are 120 different hiring authorities in the Federal Government. I do not think we need 120 different hiring authorities, but 

we need great employees here. And a lot of those great employees 

are retiring in the days ahead. Every agency says, ‘‘I have 120 hiring authorities but what I really want is direct hiring authority 

and I do not have that.’’ 

Can you help us be able to work through this maze, so we can 

try to fix some of the hiring authority issues? As I have mentioned 

to you before, it is fine for the President to say we need to have 

more people on the border with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), 

both Southern and Northern Border. That is fine to say that, except it takes 450 days to hire one agent. That cannot be. So we 

have to be able to figure out how to be able to process that. 

Is that something that you are already working on and are you 

thinking on? 

Ms. WEICHERT. So thank you. Absolutely, I think that is critical, 

and the third pillar around the workforce for the 21st Century really speaks to what are all the elements that we need to get in place 

so that we can do all of the parts of people management from vetting, hiring, deploying, adjudicating, and getting to be efficient, up 

to the 21st Century standards. 

Many of the policies that create these slow timelines today were 

established in the post-World War II era, again, for very good reasons, but they are not necessarily relevant in a digital world that 

is expecting you could go to Monster.com and hire someone in 2 

days if you wanted to, and I could hire a nanny and get her background check online today if I wanted to. 
18 

Senator LANKFORD. Or you can go to the Federal Government 

and get it in 6 months. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Exactly. So that is, again, I think, a linchpin of 

making progress on the broader management agenda. 

Senator LANKFORD. OK. There are a couple of bills that are in 

the process of moving through right now. The Federal Agency Customer Experience (FACE) Act that Senator McCaskill and I have 

worked on has passed through the Senate already. We sent it over 

to the House. That deals with just basically getting customer feedback, allowing agencies to do what basically every rental car company and hotel already does. If you stay at a hotel, they send you 

an email afterwards saying, ‘‘How did we do?’’ The Federal agencies do not typically do that, getting customer service feedback, because of a whole host of complexities, just getting customer service 

feedback. 

We would like to help with that, and, quite frankly, I think that 

is a good tool for you to be able to have in working with agencies, 

that they are getting customer feedback and getting some continuous improvement. 

The second thing is a bill called the Taxpayers Right-To-Know. 

It is creating a list that currently does not list, that is, every agency just saying what they do. I would expect one of your first questions, when you walk into this role, is to be able to contact agency 

heads and say, ‘‘Tell me what you do in every program.’’ Most of 

those agencies are going to say, ‘‘We do not know.’’ 

Ms. WEICHERT. Yes. 

Senator LANKFORD. I think that is a problem, that we cannot supervise what we cannot see, and they cannot lead what they cannot 

see. So just forming a basic list of every program, how it is evaluated, if it is evaluated, how much money they put toward that program, how many full-time employees they have for that, and how 

many people they serve. It is a pretty basic metric that everyone 

in the private sector has already, for all of their entities, on what 

they commit to it. 

It is one of the things that we are trying to be able to work 

through the process. Senator McCaskill and I, again, are working 

on that particular piece. We hope to be able to get that done quickly, as a resource tool for you and for every future person at OMB, 

especially on the management side of it, to be able to help them 

with that management. 

So we just look forward to that cooperation together in the days 

ahead. Again, that is not designed to be a tool that is a punitive 

tool by any means. It is designed to just be a resource for everyone 

to be able to see what is actually happening. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Thank you for that input. 

Senator LANKFORD. Yes. No big question on that one. 

Senator Heitkamp, any other questions? 

Senator HEITKAMP. I just want to add something to all of that. 

I would assume that in these reorganization documents that you 

will be reviewing a lot of the information that the Chairman has 

just outlined, is information you should already have. I mean, it is 

unbelievable to any of us that there is not a master list somewhere, 

especially within each agency, of what these programs are, how 
19 

many people are dedicated to these programs, and what is the expenditure kind of looking at a cost benefit. 

And the other piece of this, because I come out of State government, how does this activity potentially duplicate what States and 

local entities are doing, and how do we streamline that multiple jurisdictional problem that we consistently have? 

And so this is a very, very high priority, and it is absolutely essential information for oversight. And that is why I want to hear 

more about what is happening in reorganization. If you are not getting that information in reorganization, my question would be why 

not. I mean, why is that not part of the reorganization documents? 

This is not, unfortunately, the sexiest issue in Congress. It never 

rises to a level of urgency. We feel a great deal of urgency on these 

issues, because we have limited resources. We cannot afford to 

waste any of those resources, moving forward. There is important 

strategic work that needs to be done by every agency of government, but there are also, I would imagine, a lot of things that are 

getting done that are tired and old and need to be relooked. And 

this is a real opportunity, I think, for you, for someone with your 

skill set coming in. 

And I just want to make this promise to you. You will find a very 

open committee, a very interested committee, a very committed 

committee, especially our Subcommittee on these issues that you 

are going to look at. And it is very bipartisan and very much set 

with the same goal of efficiency in government and appropriate levels of government. And so use us. Talk to us if you run into problems with other agencies, because you are going to be the bad cop. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Right. 

Senator HEITKAMP. I can tell you, having gone through a period 

where we consolidated offices and attorneys into the attorneys general (AGs) office, how difficult that was to set one standard for all 

the attorneys of State government. I mean, everybody was used to 

having their own attorneys doing their own thing. And we ignore 

efficiencies when we allow turf to be the issue and not efficiency. 

So you are going to have to be a bad cop, but you may occasionally need some backup. And I think what we are telling you is we 

are here, and we are here to listen, and when you run into problems it is important to bring it back to our Committee and let our 

staffs know, especially. 

Ms. WEICHERT. I really appreciate that. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Good luck, Margaret, and we look forward to 

working with you into the future, and hope for your speedy confirmation because your role, albeit, not a roomful of interested lookers-on, but we are interested. And so, that is 2 out of 100 who really care about what you do, and that is pretty good. 

Ms. WEICHERT. My kind of people. 

Senator LANKFORD. Yes, that is good. So what Senator Heitkamp 

is saying is when you get stuck in some process, release the redheads on them, and we will go see if we cannot help shake the 

trees. 

Ms. WEICHERT. My grandmother was a redhead. 

Senator HEITKAMP. We live up to our reputation, you know. 

Senator LANKFORD. So we will be glad to be able to help with 

that. 
20 

1The information of Ms. Weichert appears in the Appendix on page 29. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Slow to get there, but once we do, it can be 

serious. 

Ms. WEICHERT. Thank you both. I appreciate it. 

Senator LANKFORD. Ms. Weichert, I really appreciate you being 

here, for taking this task on. It is a long process to go through a 

nomination. I have yet to talk to a single person in the nomination 

process, for any task, that says, ‘‘This is such a pleasant process.’’ 

It is miserable as you go through, as you have total strangers going 

through every aspect of your life, sitting at a long table all alone, 

and answering questions, then waiting on the mercy of the Senate 

process to be able to go through the nomination, to actually do the 

work that you want to do. 

So let me just say thank you for going through the process. Let 

me also remind you that through your vast experience, you were 

in many different places, making quite an impact for a short period 

of time. I am sure you have looked back at some of these places 

and said, ‘‘I wish while I was there I would have done this, because 

I had been there a shorter time than I thought.’’ 

Whatever the window is that you are going to be here, whether 

it is 3 years or 7 years, it is going to be a window. And so I would 

only encourage you, make the most of the time that you have, because our Nation desperately needs someone handling management 

of the Management and Budget, and it is one of the most important entities that no one has ever heard of, but it makes a significant difference to us. So please lead in the management area. We 

will need that good leadership in the days ahead. 

And for Andrew and James—do not mind, Andrew, if I am little 

more biased to the James than the Andrew here, because my first 

name is James as well—but for both of you, thank you for being 

here, and I hope this is a good civics lesson for you as well. And 

happy birthday. Glad that you are here, for both of you to be able 

to be here to be a part of it, and I hope it is not too painful. I can 

only imagine watching my child sitting on the stand and going 

through all the fun of it. That would not be as much fun as you 

would think it would be. So thank you for being here and being a 

part of it. 

Let me just make a quick closing statement as well. The nominee 

has made financial disclosures, provided responses to biographical 

and pre-hearing questions submitted by the Committee. Without 

objection, this information will be made a part of the hearing 

record,1 with the exception of the financial data, which is on file 

and available for public inspection in the Committee offices. 

The hearing record will remain open until 12 p.m. tomorrow, December 15, 2017, for the submission of statements and questions 

for the record. 

Thank you again for being here and being a part of this process. 

With that, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:59 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 
(21) 

A P P E N D I X 
22 

government's procurement policies, information technology systems, and financial 

and personnel management practices. 

We should approach these issues remembering that we have been entrusted 

as stewards of taxpayer dollars and that we should work together so that 

government works for everyone. Thank you, and I look forward to your testimony. 
23 

United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee 

Hearing on the Nomination of Margaret M. Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

December 14, 2017 

Statement of Margaret M. Weichert 

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank you, the Ranking Member and all the Members of this 

committee for your gracious welcome. It is an honor to appear before this Committee as the Nominee 

for Deputy Director of Management, Office of Management and Budget. 

I would also like to thank my family for joining me today. My two boys, James and Andrew, are here 

getting a real-life civics lesson. And my parents, Ed and Mary Alice Morgan, have come from wintry 

upstate New York to support me. Today is my mother's birthday so it's even more special. I appreciate 

their support and encouragement, in spite of long-hours and much time away from home. My 

motivation to leave our home in Georgia and the private sector for a role in Washington is rooted in a 

long family tradition of public service. I am following in the footsteps of family members who have 

served the country through military service, elected office, in state government and work for the Post 

Office. 

I would also like to thank the Members of this Committee and their staffs for meeting with me and 

sharing perspectives on key management issues facing our country. If confirmed, I look forward to 

working with you to identify and implement innovative management solutions. Finally I would like to 

thank the President and the OMB Director for inviting me to serve. I feel humbled and honored as I 

embark on my first experience in public service. 

The Deputy Director for Management is an important role charged with leading a broad range of 

disciplines that provide the management foundation for the core missions of government. In and of 

themselves, functions like IT, Information Security, Human Capital Management, Finance, Accounting, 

Performance Management and Procurement may not be inherently exciting, but these functions provide 

necessary and essential capabilities needed to support the work of government agencies. The 

Management function at OMB is challenged to use a fact-based approach to balance financial 

stewardship and efficiency with effectiveness and transparency. Government agency missions vary 
24 

widely, but all rely on management capabilities. Whether rescuing families and their dogs, cats and 

livestock from fires in California or floodwaters in Texas, helping small businesses compete for 

government contracts, allowing famers to efficiently get loans or crop insurance, or supporting the 

healthcare needs of veterans, the "business of government" in every case relies on mission critical 

management services. 

20+ years of experience in the private sector should position me well to drive transformational change 

and better align federal government management capabilities to the realities of the 21'' century. 

Building on an academic background in Economics, Management and Finance, I have spent the last 20+ 

years driving customer and shareholder value in publically traded companies and as an entrepreneur. I 

have direct experience with P&L management, budgeting, capital allocation, new product development, 

innovation, risk and compliance, financial reporting and analytics and business development. I have 

done these activities as an employee of 21arge publically-traded companies (Bank of America and First 

Data), and as a consultant to large publically traded companies in the financial services, financial 

technology and retail industries. 

In these private sector roles I have been privileged to use a wide range of leading practices, including Six 

Sigma, Design for Six Sigma, Agile development, business process automation and user-centered design 

to~ and implement complex, transformational change agendas with strong positive financial and 

customer experience impacts. In all my private sector roles I have sought to bring a spirit of innovation 

and a passion for doing the right thing to drive breakthrough thinking and results. I have led large teams 

of diverse talent to achieve results that even they did not believe were possible. And I've been as 

excited about innovating in support areas like payments, accounts payable and commercial cash 

management as I have been about innovations in mobile banking or online payments. Many of these 

innovations, even in non-customer facing areas, were innovative enough to result in 14 successful US 

patents. 

My hope, if confirmed, is to bring this spirit of innovation, combined with private sector practices, to 

drive greater efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in federal management functions. Moreover, I'd 

like to build on existing management successes to create and implement a transformational vision for 

21" century management. Through the President's Management Agenda, and the President's 

Management Council, if confirmed, I would focus on three transformation areas: 

1. IT Modernization 
25 

2. Data, Accountability and Transparency 

3. People & the Workforce for the 21" century 

In conclusion, I'd like to thank you for your input and consideration. If confirmed as Deputy Director for 

Management, I look forward to working with you to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and 

transparency of the federal government through improvements in management competencies. Thank 

you again. I look forward to answering your questions. 
26 

REDACTED 

HSGAC BIOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONS FOR 

EXECUTIVE NOMINEES 

l. Basic Biographical Information 

Please provide the following information. 

1 
27 

Never Married 

0 

0 

Scparnled 

0 

Annulled 

0 

Divorced Wlilowcd 

XXo XX 
28 

2. 

List all post-secondary schools attended. 

University of 

Sussex 

051!995 

3 
29 

3. 

(A) List all of your employment activities, including unemployment and self-employment. 

If the employment activity was military duty, list employment activity periods to 

show each change of military duty station. Do not employment before your 18th 

birthday unless to provide a minimum of two years of employment history. 

711935 0 

1!11985 

State Government State of New York Summer Intern Albany Esl I:> I 

NY 0 

711986 S/1986 

Restaurant Sbm:ro Waitress Albany Est l::st 

(Non-government entity) NY 11l91i!6 8/l986 

University Ofllcc of Campus Work study Wnshingt E" 

(Non·govemmcn! entity) Ministry, on DC "'' 0 

91198$ !lll9llll 

Univernity School of Foreign Work study Washing! £" £>! 

(Non-government en!ity) Service1 Dean's on DC 0 

111987 SJI9fl9 

Office, Georgetown 

Universit 

Temp Agency Albany 811989 9/t9R9 

(non government entity) NY 

Fcdernl Contractor lntemntionu! Senior Wnshinl;t 811~90: 511991 

Resources Group Associate on DC 

Non-government Leaffor Life (Hojns Intern Managua 9/l99l: 5lt99J 

organization Verdes) &Rivas, 

Nicaragu 

a 

University Graduate Berkeley l<l1994 

{non·govemment entity Student CA 

Haas School of Instructor 

Business 

Non-government entity Andersen Consulting Senior San 71!'195 91!999 

Manager Francisc 

oCA 

4 
30 

Nort·government entity Achcx, Inc. Co-Founder & San 10/1999 7/l11ttl 

VP Marketing FRancisc 

o,CA 

Non-government entity Firs.! Data Cop Senior Vice San 7/lOQI llll61l4 

·President, Francisc <>11009 711016 

Product o,CA& 

Marketing Atlanta 

GA 

Finnnciallnstitution Bank of America SVP, Business Charlotte 1112004 111<!09 

(non·~,;overnment entity) Planning and NC 

Analy1ics 

Executive 

Consulting Finn The Morgan Founder and Charlotte l/1009 WlOtJ 

(Non-government entity) Weichert Group ttC CEO NC& 

Atlanta 

OA 

Consulting Firm Market Platform Managing Atlanta 912010 912013 

(non-government entity) Dynamics Director GA& 

Chicago, 

It 

Consulting Firm Global Economics Principal Atlanta 9/lOIO 9110 l 

(non-govcmment entity) Group GA& 

Chicago, 

It 

Consulting Finn Ernst & Young tLP Principal Atlanta 911013 [971/lol'i 

(non-government entity) 

Government Entity Office of Senior Advisor Washingt 911011 pr«tnt 

Management and on DC 

Budget 

(B) List any advisory, consultntlvc, honorary or other part-time service or positions with 

federal, state, or local governments, not listed elsewhere. 

s 

£11 

" 

E•t 

0 

Est t'retcnt 

0 " 

Ett Pres:tttf 

0 0 
31 

4. Potential Conflict oflnterest 

(A) Describe any business relationship, dealing or financial transaction which you have had 

during the last 10 years, whether for yourself, on behalf of a client, or acting as an agent, 

that could in any way constitute or result in a possible conflict of interest in the position to 

which you have been nominated. 

As long as all Federal Guidelines and regulations for procurement of consulting services 

or financial services (e.g. banking services or credit card acceptance services) are 

observed, I do not anticipate any conflicts of interest with former employers. 

(B) Describe any activity during the past 10 years ln which you have engaged for the 

purpose of directly or indirectly Influencing the passage, defeat or modification of any 

legislation or affecting the administration or execution of law or public policy, other than 

while in a federal government capacity. 

In 2011, while a principal in Global Economics Group and a Managing Director at 

Market Platfonn Dynamics, 1 contributed to several papers commenting on the economic 

impacts of the "Durbin Amendment" to the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) 

and other re!,'U!ation proposed for the payment card industry. One of these papers, in 

which I was a co-author, was submitted to the Federal Reserve as part of their formal 

request for commentary. The citation for that paper is 

DavidS. Evans, Howard Chang, and Margaret M. Weichert, "Economic Analysis of 

Claims in Support of the 'Durbin Amendment' to Regulate Debit Card Interchange 

Fees," Submission to the Federal Reserve Request for Comment; May 16, 2011 

(submitted May 12, 20 II). https://papers.ssm.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id""-1843628 

In addition, I participated in several public forums advocating on behalf of the points of 

view articulated in that position paper. 

5. Honors and Awards 

List all scholarships, fellowships, honorary degrees, civilian service citations, military 

medals, academic or professional honors, honorary society memberships and any other 

special recognition for outstanding service or achievement. 

• Georgetown University Phi Beta Kappa (academic honor society), 1989 

• BSFS, Magna Cum Laude, Georgetown University May 1989 

Dean's Citation, School of Foreign Service, May 1989 

6 
32 

" School of Foreign Service Scholar Award, Georgetown University May 1989 

'" Rotary Scholar, 19.89-1990 (sponsored by Rotary Club of Albany NY) 

• Berkeley, Beta Gamma Sigma May 

1995 

have lleld in social, business, fratemal, 

eh:~ri:table organizations the last 10 years. 

2006·2007 Member- on behalf of Bank of 

America 

l-c=a-rm..-..,el"'c=-o-u-nt,..ry-C"'!'""",...b,""'c"'h-ar.,.lo-t-te--+"'20""0"'7""·2"'00""9,-----~----4-::l'-:-in-a-nc-e""'c""o-m-m""i-tte-e-M-e-m'"'be-r ----1 

NC 

7. 

(A) H11ve you ever been a candidate for or been elected or appointed ro 11 political office? 
33 

NIA 

(B) List 

during the 

offices held In or services rendered to 11 political pnrty or election committee 

ten years that you have not listed elsewhere. 

(C) Uemize 1111 individual political contributions of $lOll or more that you have made in the 

past live yean to any individual, campaign p11rty, 11dion 

committee, or similar entity. Please list each imlivldnal contribution and not the total 

amount contributed to the person or entity tile year, 

' ,, . Nnliie J_ ,, ' ,'•, ..... , ... -~' Emst & Young Political Action tommiliiic $500 "" 

2017 --

Ernst & Young Political Action Committee $300 2016 

Kusich for America, Inc. - Jolm R. Knsich $300 forK 

Hillary for America- Hillary Rodham Clinton & Timothy Michael $695 20!6 

Kaine 

·-- Ernst & Young Political Action Committee • $300 2015 

- Ernst & Young Political Action Commiltec $300 2014 

Mulvaney for Congress- John Mlcllnel Mulvaney 1 ssoo lO!(l 
34 

8. Publications and Speeches 

(A) List the titles, publishers and dates of books, articles, reports or other published 

materials that you have written, Including articles published on the Internet. Please provide 

the Committee with copies of all listed publications. In lieu of hard copies, electronic copies 

can be provided via e-mail or other digital format. 

9 
35 

(B) List any formal speeches you have deUvel·ed during the last five years and provide the 

Committee with copies of those speeches relevant to position for which you have been 

nominated. Include any testimony or any other or administrative 

body. These items can be electroniclllly via e-mail or other digital format. 

(C) List aU speeches 11nd testimony you have delivered in the past ten years, except ror 

those the text of which you at·c to the Committee. 

lrrnovationlo Cross Border 

l'nymcnts 

Merchant Acquiring CEO 

Roundtable 

Customer-Driven Payments 

Start-U 180 

Commerciall'aymen!s 

FT Live - Financial Times ami 

SWIFT hosts- New York, NY 

Card Forum (various locations) 

Jefferies Investor ConferencePayments- New York, NY 

W.net; Atlanta GA 

Money 2020, Lns Vegas, NV 

Sibos 20!4-Toronto, CN 

Sioos 20!5- Singapore 

10 

December 20 16 

20!6 

2015, 20l6,20!7(May8, 

20!6 

2013, 20!4, 20!5, :!016 

2014, 20!5 
36 

lMovation in the non·profit sector lnnovo con 2014 

2000-2014 

Association of Georgia 20 !0·21 05 

Mise Private l'resenln!luns for Clients 

BnnkofNcw 

No 

• Have you been arrested by nny police officer, 

No or any other type of !nw enforcement 

Have you been charged, convicted, or sentenced of a crime in any court'/ 

No 

• Have you bee!l or nre you currently onprobn!loo or parole? 

No 

Are you currently Minai or awaiting u trial ml criminal 

No 

or 

To your knowledge, have you ever been the subject or tarttet of a federal, slate or local crimina! investigation? 

No 

H the answer to any of tile questions above is please !lnswer the questions below for 

eaeb criminal event (citation, arrest, im•es1ti!!1~tl~>n. etc.). Iftlle event was an ill•feSti!!;aUtm, 

where the below asks for about the offense, please offer information 

about the under (if known), 

A) Dale of offense: 

a, Is this an estimate (Yes/No): 

11 
37 

B) Description of the specific nature of the offense: 

C) Did the offense involve any of the following? 

1) Domestic violence or a crime of violence (such ns battery or assault) against your child, dependent, 

cohabitant, spouse, former spouse, or someone with whom you share a child in common: Yes I No 

2) Fireamis or explosives: Yes I No 

3) Alcohol or drugs: Yes I No 

D) Location where the offense occurred (city, county, state, zip code, country): 

E) Were you arrested, summoned, cited or did you receive a ticket to appear as n result of this offense by any 

police officer, sheriff, marshal or any other type oflaw enforcement official: Yes I No 

I) Name of the law enforcement agency that arrested/cited/summoned you: 

2) Location of the law enforcement agency (city, county, state, zip code, country): 

I') As a result of this offense were you charged, convicted, currently nwaiting trial, and/or ordered to appear in 

court in a criminal proceeding against you: Yes I No 

I) If yes, provide the name of the court and the location of the court (city, county, state, zip code, 

country): 

2) If yes, provide all the charges brought against you for this offense, and the outcome of ench charged 

offense (such as found guilty, found not-guilty, charge dropped or "nolle pros," etc). If you were found 

guilty of or pleaded guilty to a lesser offense, list separately both the original charge and the lesser 

offense: 

3) If no, provide explanation: 

G) Were you sentenced as n result of this offense: Yes IN!! 

H) Provide a description of the sentence; 

I) Were you sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding one year: Yc$ I No 

J) Were you incarcerated as a result of that sentence for not less than one year. Y cs I No 

K) If the conviction resulted in imprisonment, provide the dates that you actually were incarcerated: 

L) If conviction resulted in probation or parole, provide the dates of probation or parole: 

M) Are you currently on trial, awaiting a trial, or awaiting sentencing on criminal charges for this offense: Yes 1 

No 

12 
38 

N) Provide explanation: 

10. Civil Litigation and Administrative or Legislative Proceedings 

(A) Since (and Including) your 18th birthday, have you been a party to any public record 

civil court action or administrative or legislative proceeding of any kind that resulted in (1) 

a finding of wrongdoing against you, or (2) a settlement agreement for you, or some other 

person or entity, to make a payment to settle allegations against you, or for you to take, or 

refrain from taking, some action. Do NOT include small claims proceedings. 

(B) In addition to those listed above, have you or any business of which you were an officer, 

director or owner ever been Involved ns a party of interest In any administrative agency 

proceeding or civil litigation? Please identify and provide details for any proceedings or 

civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to have been taken or 

omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. 

13 
39 

(A) Have dis:ciJIII~ic!l or cited for 11 breach of ethics or unprofessional conduct 

by, or cotnpllalrit to, nny court, administrative professional 

associ11tion, dl!;cil>lhllll'Y com,mittcc, or other profess!<mnl group'! cases and 

proceedings 

No 

told you would be left 

ml!~co:nd!u:t,lcft 11 job 

mt:satliilf~ldtlry "'"rfn:rm:"'"'"· 11 written 

12. lli£!!!mllill!!l!. 

(Til is information will not be published In the rceord of tile hearing on your nomination, 

but it will be ret11incd in the Committee's files 11nd will be available for public inspection.) 
40 

REDACTED 

13. Lobbying 

In the past ten years, have you registered as a lobbyist? If so, please indicate the state, 

federal, or loeal bodies with which you have registered (e.g., House, Senate, California 

Secretary of State). 

No 

16 
41 

14. Outside Positions 

o See OGE Fonn 278. (If, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Fonn 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, you may check the box here to 

complete this section and then proceed to the next section.} 

For the preceding ten calendar years and the current calendar year, report any positions 

held, whether compensated or not. Positions include but arc not limited to those of nn 

officer, director, trustee, general partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or 

consultant of any corporation, firm, partnership, or other business enterprise or any nonprofit organization or educational institution. Exclude positions with religious, social, 

fraternal, or political entities and those solely of an honorary nature. 

Market Platform 140Dearbom Partnership Mannging 10/2010 9113 

Dynamics Street # 1000, Direc1or 

Chicago JL (Partner} 

60603 

Global 140 Dearborn Partnership Principal 10/2010 9113 

Economics Street # 1000, 

Group Chicago !L 

60603 

The Morgnn !4 Rose Gate Sole Prop. LLC CEO 2/2009 present 

Weichert Group, DriveNE; 

LLC AtlantaGA 

30342 

First Data Corp 5565 Glenridge Corporation SVP, Global 612009 712010 

Connector; Product 

Atlanta GA Marketing 

30342 

Bank of America !00 N. Tryon Corporation SVP, Business 11/2004 2/2009 

Street, Charlotte Planning and 

NC 28255 Analytics Exec 

17 
42 

Journal of Digital 28-30 Little Publication Member of the 2016 present 

Banking, Henry Russell Street Editorial Board 

Stewart London WCIA (unpaid) 

Publications 2HN, United 

Kingdom 

15. Agreements or Arrangements 

Cl See OGE Fonn 278. (If, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Fonn 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, you may check the box here to 

complete this section and then proceed to the next section.) 

As ofthc date of filing your OGE Form 278, report your agreements or arrangements for: 

(1) continuing participation in an employee benefit plan (e.g. pension, 40Ik, deferred 

compensation); (2} continuation of payment by a former employer (including severance 

payments); (3) leaves of absence; and {4) future employment. 

Provide information regarding any agreements or arrangements you have concerning (1) 

future employment; (2) a leave of absence during your period of Government service; (3) 

continuation of payments by a former employer other than the United States Government; 

and (4) continuing participation in an employee welfare or benefit plan maintained by a 

former employer other than United States Government retirement benefits. 

EY Pension EY, M. Weichert Hire date 912013 

16. Additional Financial Data 

All information requested under this heading must be provided for yourself, your spouse, 

and your dependents. (This information will not be published in the record of the bearing 

18 
43 

on your nomination, but it will be retained in the Committee's files and will be available for 

public inspection.) 

REDAClED 
44 

REDACTED 

SIGNATURE AND DATE 

I hereby state that I have read the foregoing Statement on Biographical and Financial Information and that the information 

provided therein is, to the best of my knowledge, current, acCurate, and complete. 

- ,......,..,... 

This_6 __ dayof~t ,20 1:[-

28 
45 

UNITED STATES OFFICE OF 

GOVERNMENT ETHICS 

REDACTED 

---- * -----------------------

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

Chairman 

Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

September 12, 2017 

In accm·dance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, I enclose a copy of the 

tinancial disclosure report filed by Margaret M. Weichert, who has been nominated by 

President Trump for the position of Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget. 

We have reviewed the report and have obtained advice from the agency concerning any 

possible conflict in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties. Also enclosed is an 

ethics agreement outlining the actions that the nominee will undertake to avoid conflicts of 

interest. Unless a date fOr compliance is indicated in the ethics agreement, the nominee must 

fully comply within three months of confirmation with any action specified in the ethics agreement. 

Based thereon, we believe that this nominee is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest. 

Sincerely, 

David .1. Apol 

Acting Director and General Counsel 

Enclosures REDACTED 

-------·------·---- t 201 NEW YORK AVE NW · SUI'l'E 500 ·WASHINGTON DC· 20005 * * * * 
46 

Yasaman Sutton 

Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official 

Office of Management and Budget 

725 17'11 Street, NW 

Washington, D.C. 20503 

Dear Ms. Sutton: 

September 6, 2017 

The purpose of this Jetter is to describe the steps that I will take to avoid any actual or 

apparent conflict of interest in the event that I am confirmed for the position of Deputy Director 

for Management, Office of Management and Budget. 

As required by 18 U.S.C. § 208(a), I will not participate personally and substantially in 

any particular matter in which I know that J have a financial interest directly and predictably 

affected by the matter, or in which I know that a person whose interests are imputed to me has a 

financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter, unless I first obtain a written 

waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(l), or qualify for a regulatory exemption, pursuant to 

18 U.S.C. § 208(b )(2). l understand that the interests of the following persons are imputed to 

me: any spouse or minor child of mine; any general partner of a partnership in which I am a 

limited or general partner; any organization in which I serve as officer, director, trustee, general 

partner or employee; and any person or organization with which I am negotiating or have an 

arrangement concerning prospective employment. 

Upon confirmation, I will resign fi:om my position with Ernst & Young, LLP. I currently 

have u capital account with Ernst & Young, LLP, and I will receive u refund of my net equity in 

a lump-sum payment after my resignation. I will also cash out my interests in the EY HR-1 0 

Qualified Tax Deferred Plan, as a lump-sum payment calculated as of the date of my withdrawal. 

Until I have received these payments, I will not participate personally and substantially in any 

particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the ability or 

willingness of the firm to pay this refund, unless I first obtain a written waiver, pursuant to 18 

U.S.C. 208(b)(l ). For a period of one year after my resignation, I also will not participate 

personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know 

the firm is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate, pursuant to 5 

C.F.R. § 2635.502(d). In addition, I will not participate personally and substantially in any 

particular matter involving specific parties in which I know a former client of mine is a party or 

represents a party for a period of one year after !last provided service to that client, unless I am 

flrst authorized to participate, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 2635.502(d). 

l will retain my two conservator positions. I will not receive any fees for the services that 

I provide as conservator during my appointment to the position of Deputy Director for 

Management. 
47 

If I have a managed account or otherwise use the services of an investment professional 

during my appointment, I will ensure that the account manager or investment professional 

obtains my prior approval on a case-by-case basis for the purchase of any assets other than cash, 

cash equivalents, investment funds that qualify for the exemption at 5 C.F.R. § 2640.201(a), or 

obligations of the United States. 

I will meet in person with you during the first week of my service in the position of 

Deputy Director for Management in order to complete the initial ethics briefing required under 

5 C.P.R. § 2638.305. Within 90 days of my continuation, I will also document my compliance 

with this ethics agreement by noti(ying you in writing when I have completed the steps described 

in this ethics agreement. 

I understand that as an appointee J will be required to sign the Ethics Pledge (Exec. Order 

no. 13770) and that l will be bound by the requirements and restrictions therein in addition to the 

commitments l have made in this ethics agreement. 

J have been advised that this ethics agreement will be posted publicly, consistent with 

5 U.S.C. § 552, on the website of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics with ethics agreements 

of other Presidential nominees who file public financial disclosure reports. 
48 

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Pre-hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be 

Deputy Director for Management- Office of Management and Budget 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts of Interest 

I. Did the President give you specific reasons why he nominated you to be the next Deputy 

Director for Management (DDM) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)? 

No 

2. Were any conditions, expressed or implied, attached to your nomination? If so, please 

explain. 

No 

3. Have you made any commitments with respect to the policies and principles you will 

attempt to implement as DDM? If so, what are they, and to whom were the commitments 

made? 

No 

4. Are you aware of any business relationship, dealing, or financial transaction that could 

result in a possible conflict of interest for you or the appearance of a conflict of interest? 

If so, please explain what procedures you will use to recuse yourself or otherwise address 

the conflict. And if you will recuse yourself, explain how you will ensure your 

responsibilities are not affected by your recusal. 

If confirmed, if any duties related to the position of Deputy Director of Management 

(DDM) were to relate to recent clients and/or employers, I would recu'se myself from 

those matters, and identify a member of the Management Leadership Team with relevant 

expertise to represent OMB. 

IJ. Background ofthe Nominee 

5. Please describe: 

a. Your leadership and management style. 

My leadership and management style is based on inclusive, fact-based decision making. 

I believe it is the responsibility of an organization's leader to clearly articulate the vision 

and strategy for the organization, aligned with the overall organizational mission and any 

key stakeholder objectives. 

b. Your experience managing personnel. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 1 
49 

I have over 20 years' experience managing employees in a range of enterprises, including 

consulting firms, startups, and Fortune 500 companies. 

c. What is the largest number of people that have worked under you? 

Approximately 125 

6. 31 U.S.C. § 503 tasks the DDM with 14 specific tasks related the financial management 

of Federal agencies. Please describe your ability and experience in financial management 

of large organizations. 

My overall capabilities related to Financial Management are rooted in my academic 

background in Economics, Management and Finance. In my professional experience in 

the last 20+ years, I have held positions with responsibilities including P&L 

management, budgeting, capital allocation, risk and compliance, financial reporting and 

analytics and other financial management related activities. I have done these activities 

as an employee of2 large publically-traded companies (Bank of America and First Data), 

and as a consultant to large publically traded companies in the financial services, 

financial technology and retail industries. 

7. OMB has five key offices listed below. These offices are critical to OMB's role 

managing executive branch agencies. If confirmed, you will be responsible for oversight 

of these offices. Please describe your ability and experience in the subject matter of each: 

a. The Office oflnformation and Regulatory Affairs, 

I have spent my professional career in financial services working on projects with 

significant regulatory and information management implications, largely in financial 

services. This work involved payments regulatory issues including electronic funds 

transfers, check imaging, credit card processing, money transmission and other 

payment regulation. 

b. The Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, 

I am familiar at a high level with U.S. patent, trademark and copyright protection 

practices based on experiences in the private sector. I am an inventor on 14 U.S. 

patents (that are owned by the corporations where I worked) and led marketing teams 

that filed corporate patent, trademark and copyright applications. 

c. The Office of E-Govemment & Information Technology, 

I have spent the last twenty years of my career focused on technology-driven 

transformational change in the financial services industry, including time as a 

payments technology entrepreneur, a business executive focused on payments 

teclmology at First Data and Bank of America, and as a management consultant 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page2 
50 

focused on process and technology transformation projects in the financial services 

space. 

d. The Office of Federal Financial Management, 

My overall capabilities related to Financial Management are rooted in my academic 

background in Economics, Management and Finance. In my professional experience 

in the last 20+ years, I have held positions with responsibilities including P&L 

management, budgeting, capital allocation, risk and compliance, financial reporting 

and analytics and other financial management related activities. I have done these 

activities as an employee of2 large publically-traded companies (Bank of America 

and First Data), and as a consultant to large publically traded companies in the 

financial services, financial technology and retail industries. 

e. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and 

In executive roles at Bank of America and First Data I have worked with supply chain 

and procurement professionals on the procurement needs associated with those roles, 

including management of major vendor relationships with a range of payment 

technology providers, including credit card brands, debit card networks, ATM 

manufacturers, cash-in-transit companies, consulting finns and software vendors. As 

a management consultant I have been exposed to leading practices in vendor 

management and procurement as a professional services vendor to Fortune 500 

companies. 

f. The Office of Performance and Personnel Management. 

My professional career over the last 20+ years has focused on driving performance 

and transformational change in the private sector via a combination of people, process 

and technology capabilities. In addition, all of my transformational change activities 

in industry and as a consultant have involved strategic human capital and personnel 

management. Moreover, my certification as a Six Sigma Greenbelt and Design for 

Six Sigma experience have given me rigorous background in using statistical and 

analytical rigor to drive performance improvement. 

8. Please briefly describe what your responsibilities have been as a senior advisor at OMB, 

and what your role has been in policy decisions. 

As a Senior Advisor I have provided a perspective on leading private sector management 

practices in competencies related to Finance, Accounting, IT Transformation, 

Information Security, Strategic Human Capital Management, Supply Chain Management 

and Performance Improvement. I have provided the Director of OMB and his Chief of 

Staff with information in support of management related questions upon request by them. 

9. What lessons have you learned during your time as a senior advisor at OMB that have 

prepared you for your new role as DDM, should you be confirmed? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 3 
51 

During the brief time I have been here, I have been exposed to a range of perspectives 

from within government regarding the challenges and improvement opportunities for 

government to meet the needs of the American people. I have also undertaken a review 

of publically available perspectives on the same topics, and have compiled data regarding 

public perspectives on existing government services to ensure that I have a baseline 

understanding. Perhaps most importantly, I have worked to ensure that I have a solid 

understanding of the key mission, priorities, management successes and challenges facing 

the agencies that directly serve the American people. 

I 0. Please briefly describe the type of work you did as a principal at the accounting firm 

Ernst & Young. 

I served as the Americas Lead for the Payments Practice in EY's consulting business. 

My responsibilities focused on serving the management consulting needs of banks, 

financial technology firms and other Fortune 500 companies. 

II. Please describe your relationship with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, including any 

previous business or financial relationships and how long you have known one another. 

Director Mulvaney and I have known each other since we were classmates at 

Georgetown University 1985-1989. As such we have known each other academically 

and socially since that time. I made a one-time contribution to one of his congressional 

campaigns, but we have not had any other business or financial relationships with each 

other. 

III. Role ofthc DDM- OMB 

12. Please describe your view ofOMB's core mission and the DDM's role in achieving that 

mission. 

My view is that the Mission of the OMB is to assist the President in handling budget, 

management and regulatory activities consistent with the Executive Branch's policy 

objectives and statutory responsibilities. The DDM role is focused on addressing the core 

management functions that support those policy objectives and statutory responsibilities, 

with a particular emphasis on Financial Management, Procurement, Information 

Technology and Performance and Personnel Management. 

13. Have you and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney discussed what your role will be if you are 

confirmed? If so, please describe those discussions and identify any specific programs or 

areas you will be working on. 

Director Mulvaney and I have discussed his perspectives on modernizing government 

management by leveraging leading practices from the private sector to improve 

efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of government. The Director indicated that the 

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DDM role would have responsibility for the key management offices and take point on 

key management issues as they arise. 

14. How do you view the role of Deputy Director in the context of the Deputy Director of 

Management as well as OMS's three main offices: the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and the Oflice of Federal 

Financial Management? 

My perspective about the role of the DDM is that the position focuses on coordinating the 

management related activities and priorities in OMB. If confirmed, I look forward to 

working with the Senate-confirmed heads of each of the statutory offices on these issues. 

15. Have you and OMB Deputy Director nominee Russ Vought discussed what your 

respective roles will be if you both are confirmed? If so, please how you view the 

relationship between these two roles in light of these discussions. 

No 

16. How do you view your role as DDM with respect to the management offcderal agencies? 

The DDM has a key role in sharing leading practices and providing a vision for 

management with leaders across the Executive Branch. The primary platfonns for 

sharing those practices include the President's Management Council and the CxO 

Councils. Based on my short time as a Senior Advisor to the Director, I have concluded 

that there are three key areas where there are significant opportunities to apply private 

sector principles to enhance the management of government operations: I) IT 

Modernization; 2) Data, Accountability and Transparency; 3) People/Workforce Strategy. 

IV. Policy Questions 

17. What do you believe are the most pressing challenges currently facing OMB? How 

would you plan to prioritize and address each? What do you hope to accomplish during 

your tenure? 

If confirmed, I look forward to working with the DirectorofOMB, and his leadership 

team to identity and prioritize activities using a rigorous, fact-based approach. lf 

confirmed, I would like to have a measurable impact on reducing waste and inefficiency 

in government. 

18. In your view, what are the highest priorities in both urgency and importance for 

managing the executive branch? Please explain. 

Based on my short time as a Senior Advisor to the Director, I have concluded that there 

are three key areas where there are significant opportunities to apply private sector 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 5 
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principles to enhance the management of government operations: 1) IT Modernization; 

2) Data, Accountability and Transparency; 3) People/Workforce Strategy. 

19. What measurements would you use to determine whether your office is successful? 

If confirmed, I would look to build on and streamline Executive Branch work that has 

already been done to establish performance metrics, open reporting and data standards. 

Moreover, I would seek to work with the relevant Congressional Oversight bodies to 

improve automation of many of the existing measurement activities in order to ensure the 

optimal balance of accountability, transparency and efficiency. 

20. If confirmed as DDM, you will be involved in the execution of President Trump's March 

13, 2017 executive order on reorganizing government. Previous DDM David Mader said 

that Trump's reorganization plan gives an opportunity for "career executives to put 

forward their own bold plans on how to make delivery of the mission better." Do you 

agree with that assessment? Please explain. 

Although the work associated with the March 17, 2017 Executive Order took place 

before I joined the OMB as a Senior Advisor, it is my understanding that the process was 

designed to provide agencies with the ability to share their perspectives on how to 

streamline operations and improve focus on mission while also saving money for the 

American taxpayer. 

21.OMB is responsible for implementing the President's management agenda. What are 

your priorities for this agenda? 

If confirmed as DDM, I would look forward to working with the President's Management 

Council to align leading practices from the private sector with the specific needs and 

challenges of the agencies' missions. In particular, 1 would seek to focus much of the 

discussion in the PMC around opportunities related to I) IT Modernization; 2) Data, 

Accountability and Transparency; and 3) People:Workforce of the Future. 

22. How would you handle employee disciplinary issues within OMB? 

a. How would you respond to underperforming employees within OMB? 

If confirmed, I would work with the OMB's Chief Human Capital Officer to address 

the specific issues in accord with established policy. 

b. Please explain your views on putting an employee on paid administrative leave 

pending an investigation or disciplinary action. Under what circumstances, if any, do 

you believe that might be appropriate? 

{ am not familiar with the current established practices for paid administrative leave. 

If confirmed, I would seek to study and better understand the core issues involved, 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page6 
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and their relevant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of agencies' ability to 

support their core missions. 

23. Protecting whistleblowers is of the utmost importance to this Committee. 

a. How do you plan to implement policies within the OMB to encourage employees to 

bring constructive suggestions forward without the fear of reprisal? 

I understand the importance of this issue, and although I don't yet know the specifics 

of existing policies, if confirmed, I would seek to work with relevant experts and 

stakeholders to better understand the core issues and appropriately respond to them. 

b. Do you commit without reservation to work to ensure that any whistleblower within 

OMB does not face retaliation? 

Yes 

c. Do you commit without reservation to take all appropriate action if notified about 

potential whistleblower retaliation? 

Yes 

Improper Payments. Pe1formance, and Tmnsparency 

24. The Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act (GPRMA) was 

implemented by the previous administration which created the website Performance.gov. 

Do you believe there is value in maintaining Performance.gov? What are other ways in 

which the government maintains transparency and accountability in meeting its 

performance goals? If confirmed, how will you manage and improve performance? 

I believe that there is great value in sharing critical metrics that demonstrate how 

effectively and efficiently the government is spending taxpayer money. In my short time 

as a Senior Advisor, I have become familiar at a high level with a number of government 

web properties that seek to achieve the end goal of providing relevant data, transparency 

and accountability around government spending. If confirmed, it would be one of my 

strategic priorities to fully assess all of the public reporting and information mechanisms 

(including Performance.gov) providing information to the American people in order to 

maximize the effectiveness ofinformation sharing, while also ensuring the efficiency and 

consistency of information delivery. 

25. What concrete steps will you take if confirmed as DDM to enable the federal government 

to perform is essential Constitutional functions more efficiently and for less cost? 

If confirmed, I believe it is the role of the DDM to look constantly and continually for 

efficiency opportunities. Existing work around Improper Payments, Shared Services and 

Category Management appears to be aligned with that perspective. If confirmed, I would 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page7 
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seek to identifY additional opportunities for process automation, self service solutions and 

IT modernization to provide material efficiency gains. 

26. Of the 24 agencies included in the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO Act}, only 

9 were reported by their inspectors general as compliant with the Improper Payments 

Elimination and Recover Act of2010 (JPERA). What steps will you take as DDM to 

ensure that all agencies comply with improper payments laws? 

If confirmed, I would seek to work with the Office of Federal Financial Management 

(OFFM) and the CFO Council to continue to identifY and help address barriers to full 

exploration of the financial opportunities associated with addressing Improper Payments. 

27. The 15 CFO Act agencies that were noncompliant with IPERA accounted for $132 

billion of the $136.7 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2015. Other than 

improving IPERA compliance, what steps will you take to reduce improper payments at 

these 15 agencies? 

If confim1ed, 1 would work with OFFM, the CFO Council and relevant organizations to 

identifY high priority opportunities to reduce improper payments. Based on my limited 

exposure to date, it appears that there are significant opportunities to be gained from 

further expansion of the Do Not Pay database, as well as expansion of efforts to better 

coordinate with states on improper payments associated with grants to states. In addition, 

if confirmed, I would seek to explore opportunities to use advanced analytics and process 

automation to streamline improper payments investigations, and ultimately eliminate 

more improper payments at the source. 

28. From 2010 to 2013, total annual improper payments dropped from $!21 billion to $!06 

billion. However, the improper payment rates rose sharply over the last 3 years of the 

Obama Administration, totaling over $144 billion in 20!6. What lessons can be learned 

from the declining improper payments at the beginning of the decade, and what steps can 

be taken to ensure that improper payments are reduced over time? 

Based on my limited exposure to the data around improper payments, it appears that there 

are a number of factors affecting those statistics that make it difficult to say with certainty 

what the underlying trends are. If confirmed, I would seek to get a more granular 

understanding of the data in order to identify distinct root cause issues associated with I) 

processing errors; 2) actual fraud/monetary losses; 3) reporting/paperwork issues. 

29. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of2014 (OAT A Act), was a priority for 

the Committee during the !13th Congress. Key implementation deadlines are 

approaching. What steps will you take to ensure that the DATA Act implementation 

stays on track? 

As I indicated above, data, accountability and transparency would be key priorities ifi 

am confirmed as DDM. If confirmed, I look forward to working with Con&'Tess to ensure 

that we collectively move forward on modernizing the data capabilities of our 

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government, via increased automation, consistent data taxonomy, and enhanced use of 

leading self-service and data visualization tools. 

30. The Committee has worked to pa1;s the Taxpayer's Right to Know Act for several years 

now. The legislation attempts to link the funding information required by the OAT A Act 

with performance information. What is your opinion of the Taxpayer's Right to Know 

Act? 

My understanding of the Taxpayer's Right to Know Act is that it is aligned with the spirit 

of providing more data and infonnation about how taxpayer money is spent. So although 

I am not familiar with the specifics of the legislation, I am aligned with its spirit. 

31. What is your assessment of the oversight work performed by the lOs over the past 

decade? What do you view as the greatest challenges facing the JGs? What do you see 

OMB's role in addressing these challenges? 

In my brief time at the OMB, I have only had a cursory level of exposure to the work of 

the !Gs. However, I believe that any healthy organizational entity, particularly one of the 

size and scope of the U.S. government, needs a strong enterprise risk orientation to 

provide the right "checks and balances" to its operations. To that end, if confirmed, I 

look forward to working with the IGs through the Council of the Inspectors General on 

Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). 

32. The Paperwork Reduction Act, the electronic amendments to the Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA), theE-Government Act, and current OMB circulars, together have led to a 

government-wide policy that supports the dissemination of government information and 

access to that information via the internet. Do you believe this current framework is 

enough to support continued modernization of the way the government shares and 

collects information? 

If confirmed I would seck to better understand the core issues involved to ensure that the 

U.S. Government can support the broad dissemination of information to the public in the 

most relevant and open ways possible, including the Internet. 

33. What standard should be applied in determining the circumstances under which the 

federal government should be proactive in its dissemination of information to the public 

or when the dissemination of information should require a FOIA request? 

I am not familiar with the current standards, so if confirmed, I would look to better 

understand the requirements of the existing framework in order to build a fact-base 

around how that framework aii!,'l1S with leading practices globally. 

Manage me Ill 

34. In 2012, then-DDM Danny Werfel issued a memorandum implementing Executive Order 

M-12-12 Section 3: Freeze the Footprint. While the savings associated with the Freeze 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page9 
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the Footprint policy were later questioned, the effort did succeed in pausing the 

government's expansion of its real property footprint. Do you believe the government 

should continue efforts to reduce the federal real property footprint and, if so, how should 

this be accomplished? 

If con finned, I would seek to establish a fact base that provides perspective on 

effectiveness of efforts to date, before detennining how to proceed. 

35. In December 2016, the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (P.L. 114-578) was signed 

into law, which establishes a Public Buildings Refonn Board to identify and sell excess 

real property. What steps will you take to ensure the full implementation of this 

legislation? 

If confinned, 1 will work with the relevant teams at OMB to ensure OMS is providing 

appropriate support and leadership required for implementation. 

36. What, if any, refonns would you suggest to expedite the process for disposing of excess, 

underutilized, or sutplus real property? 

At this time, I am not sufficiently infonned to comment. 

37. What role, if any, should OMB play in ensuring agency collaboration and greater sharing 

of data helpful for curbing waste and fraud? If con finned how do you plan to carry out 

this role? 

If con finned, !look forward to working with the President's Management Council, the 

CFO Council and any other relevant CxO Councils to promote data accountability and 

transparency. 

38. Do you agree with the importance of publicly disclosing the federal government's 

perfonnance goals and the results achieved? 

Yes 

39. One ofOMB's principal goals is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of 

government programs. What OMB initiatives do you believe will make the greatest 

difference in government efficiency and effectiveness? How can those efforts be 

integrated with the budget process and with the work of the congressional authorizing 

and appropriating committees? 

If confinned, I believe it is the role ofthe DDM to look constantly and continually for 

efficiency opportunities. Existing work around Improper Payments, Shared Services and 

Category Management appears to be aligned with that perspective. If confinned, I would 

seek to identify additional opportunities for process automation, self service solutions and 

IT modernization to provide material efficiency gains. Investments in any new initiatives 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 10 
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would need to be aligned with the standard budget, approval and appropriations 

processes. 

40. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended repeatedly that that 

OMB develop and implement a framework for conducting performance reviews of tax 

expenditures, which represent forgone revenue estimated at $1 trillion. GAO has also 

recommended that OMB designate tax expenditures as a type of program and include 

relevant information about each expenditure in future iterations of the federal program 

inventory. Do you agree with GAO's recommendations? If not, why not? 

I have not reviewed the detail of those recommendations, but ifconfim1ed would be 

happy to review them. 

41. Sec. 1222 of GPRAMA instructs OMB to "issue guidance to ensure that such information 

is provided in a way that presents a coherent picture of all federal programs, and the 

performance of the federal government as well as individual agencies." The statute also 

states that the standards set for transparency and frequency of updates are the minimum. 

a. If confirmed as Deputy Director, what steps will you take to ensure that disclosures to 

the public are provided in a coherent and easily accessible manner? 

If confirmed I would work with the relevant OMB teams on this issue. 

b. If confirmed, would you support OMB using its website to provide transparency and 

accountability to the public? How should this be done? 

If confirmed, it would be one of my strategic priorities to fully assess all of the public 

reporting and information mechanisms (including the OMB website) providing 

information to the American people in order to maximize the effectiveness of 

information sharing, while also ensuring the efficiency and consistency of 

information delivery. 

Federal Personnel Management Policy 

42. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) maintains primary oversight and 

management authority of the federal government's civil service. However, OMB plays a 

significant role in overseeing federal personnel policy and works extensively with OPM. 

For instance, OMB's April12, 2017 memorandum on the government-wide 

reorganization specifically stated that "OMB and the Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) will work with agencies to facilitate reductions in the size of their workforce and 

monitor progress." 

a. Broadly, what role(s) do you see OMB playing in the management of the federal civil 

service? 

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The OMB Office of Performance and Personnel Management plays a role in 

coordinating inputs around the strategic "people" agenda via the President's 

Management Council (PMC) and the Chief Human Officer Council (CHCOC). The 

role of OMB is to provide a rich fact base on relevant human capital issues and 

leading practices to ensure that the U.S. federal civil service is well positioned to 

support the needs of the American people. 

b. If confirmed, how will you support OPM in its efforts to improve the management of 

the federal civil service? 

If confirmed, I look forward to working with the PMC, CHCOC and OPM to analyze 

opportunities to better align federal civil service management practices with the needs 

of our 21" century government mission. 

c. If confirmed as Deputy Director, how will you improve mission delivery, efficiency, 

and accountability to the public across the government as required by the April 12, 

2017 OMB reorganization memo? 

Although the preliminary work associated with the April reorganization memo took 

place before I joined the OMB as a Senior Advisor, it is my understanding that the 

process was designed to provide agencies with the ability to share their perspectives 

on how to streamline operations and improve mission while also saving money for 

the American taxpayer. If confirmed, I would work to align all the elements 

associated with the efficient and effective management and operations of government 

functions so that organization, people, processes, technology and data capabilities are 

better aligned with the underlying missions of Executive Branch agencies. 

Government Accoumability office (GAO) High Risk List 

43. Every two years GAO releases a list and report on the most critical issues facing the 

United States Government. Success at remediating the items on the list requires sustained 

leadership commitment and constant communication with the Comptroller General. If 

con finned, will you commit to regular interaction with the Comptroller General and 

GAO staff on the High Risk List? 

Yes 

44. This year, the U.S. Census was included on the High Risk List due escalating costs, 

delays, and a lack of attention to GAO's recommendations by previous Census Director 

Thompson. Will you commit to prioritizing the financial management ofthis important 

national program and to working with the Commerce Department CFO to improve 

financial management at the Census Bureau? 

If confirmed, I will commit to focusing the appropriate resources to better understand and 

address the core issues. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 12 
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V. Relations with Congress 

45. Do you agree without reservation to comply with any request or summons to appear and 

testify before any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes 

46. Do you agree without reservation to make any subordinate official or employee available 

to appear and testify before, or provide infom1ation to, any duly constituted committee of 

Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes 

47. Do you agree without reservation to comply fully, completely, and promptly to any 

request for documents, communications, or any other agency material or infom1ation 

from any duly constituted committee of the Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes 

VI. Assistance 

48. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with OMB or any other interested 

parties? If so, please eJ(plain. 

Yes, the answers included here are entirely my own. However, I did consult with 

members of the OMB Management team and the OMB Legislative Affairs team to ensure 

l understood some of the more technical questions included in this questionnaire. 

Jl J 0tlc~ tby state that I have read the foregoing Pre-Hearing 

¥e~d Supplemental Questionnaires and that the information provided therein is, to 

the best of my knowledge, current, accurate, · complete. 

This 9'" day of November, 2017 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 13 
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Minority 

Supplemental Pre-bearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be 

Deputy Director for Management- Office of Management and Budget 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts oflntercst 

1. Has the President or his staff asked you to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure 

agreement? 

No 

2. Has the President of his staff asked you to pledge loyalty to the President or the 

Administration? 

No 

3. During your tenure have you asked any federal employee or potential hire to pledge loyalty 

to the President, Administration or any other government official? 

No 

II. Background of Nominee 

4. Do you seek out dissenting views and how do you encourage constructive critical dialoJ:,'Ue 

with subordinates? 

Yes. Leading private sector practices for enterprise risk management routinely employ 

frameworks to ensure thorough assessment of major change or investment decision 

making activities. It has long been a standard practice of mine to routinely seek input 

from diverse stakeholders to ensure there are no unintentional biases. 

5. Please give examples of times in your career when you disagreed with your superiors and 

aggressively advocated your position. Were you ever successful? 

As an innovator and change agent throughout my professional career, l routinely have 

been in positions where it was my job to challenge conventional wisdom and provide a 

fact-based perspective on a different way of moving forward. Specific examples where I 

advocated for different ways fonvard in my career include customer service strategies for 

online banking and a new approach to cash management. On balance I believe the use of 

rigorous fact-based analysis led me to successfully change the strategic direction about 

half of the time. 

6. Please list and describe examples of when you made politically difficult choices that you 

thought were in the best interest ofthe country. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 14 
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As an individual who is new to the political and government realm, I have not been in that 

position. 

7. What would you consider your greatest successes as a leader? 

My greatest successes as a leader have been achieved when I have been able to empower 

teams to do things they did not believe they could do, and were afraid to even try. 

8. What would you consider your greatest failure as a leader? What lessons did you learn from 

that experience? 

My biggest leadership challenge occurred during the financial crisis, when I was unable to 

protect the people and the projects that my team had been working on from the 

contractionary impacts of that crisis. It was an important reminder to me that in the end, the 

needs of the shareholder and the responsibilities of our organization to the broader 

community were paramount to any specific initiative or sub-organizational unit. 

9. In September 2017, you began working at OMB as a senior advisor to the OMB Director. 

a. Please describe your current role and responsibilities as Senior Advisor at OMB. 

As a senior advisor I have provided a perspective on leading private sector 

management practices in competencies related to Finance, Accounting, IT 

Transformation, Information Security, Strategic Human Capital Management, Supply 

Chain Management and Performance Improvement. I have provided the Director of 

OMB and his Chief of Staff with information in support of management related 

questions upon request by them. 

b. Please provide a list of your direct reports and those individuals to whom you directly 

report. 

As a Senior Advisor I have no direct reports. I report directly to the Chief of Staff of 

the OMB, Emma Doyle. 

c. Have you received any guidance regarding compliance with the Federal Vacancies 

Reform Act? If so, please describe what guidance you have received. 

No 

d. Have you received copies of delegation of authorities applicable to the position of 

OMB DDM or to your current position as Senior Advisor to the OMB Director. 

No 

e. Please explain what specific tasks assigned to the OMB DDM that you are barred 

from performing in your current capacity as Senior Advisor. Please explain what 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 15 
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steps OMB has taken to ensure that you and OMB staff comply with these 

limitations. 

In my capacity as Senior Advisor my activities are limited to providing advice and 

input to the Director of the OMB and his team on management issues. I defer to the 

Acting DDM and other relevant players for decision making and other non-advisory 

activities. 

Ill. Policy Questions 

Regulat01y Affairs 

10.OMB Director Mulvaney was recently quoted as saying, "It is our position that the previous 

administration failed to follow the law in many, many circumstances .... And that they simply 

imposed regulation without proper regard to the cost side of that analysis." Do you agree 

with this statement? If so, which legal requirements do you believe were not followed by the 

previous administration and can you point to specific examples that support this allegation? 

I have not discussed this statement with Director Mulvaney and therefore cannot provide any 

perspective on his thoughts. 

11. What role do you think OMB has when it comes to the substance of rules versus the 

budgetary impact? 

To the extent that my background is purely in the business realm, typically the appropriate 

balance between compliancetrules activities requires a cost/benefit analysis to consider 

tradeoff's. 

12. What are the main principles that you think should be taken into consideration in 

promulgating and issuing new regulations? 

To the extent that my background is purely in the business realm, typically the appropriate 

balance between compliance and risk management activities requires a cost/benefit analysis 

13. What are the main principles that you think should be taken into consideration in removing a 

regulation from the U.S. code? 

Again, speaking only from a business standpoint, it would seem that assessing the costs vs. 

benefits of eliminating a regulation should be considered. 

Management 

14. One of OMB's principal goals is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government 

programs. What OMB initiatives do you believe wiJI make the greatest difference in 

government efficiency and effectiveness? How can those efforts be integrated with the 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 16 
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budget process and with the work of the congressional authorizing and appropriating 

committees? 

If confirmed, I believe it is the role of the DDM to look constantly and continually for 

efficiency opportunities. Existing work around Improper Payments, Shared Services and 

Category Management appears to be aligned with that perspective. If confirmed, I would 

seek to identify additional opportunities for process automation, self service solutions and IT 

modernization to provide material efficiency gains. Investments in any new initiatives would 

need to be aligned with the standard budget, approval and appropriations processes. In this 

regard, I would seek to work closely with the relevant congressional and appropriations 

committees. 

15. OMB plays a critical role in ensuring that federal agencies are working to identify, reduce 

and properly report improper payments. 

a. What is your view of OMB's role in this process? 

OMB and the Office and Federal Financial Management have played a key 

coordinating, analytical and project management role in moving the Improper 

Payments agenda forward, in collaboration with the CFO Council. 

b. What steps will you take to ensure OMB and federal agencies' compliance with 

applicable reporting laws and regulations? 

If confirmed, 1 would seek to work with the Office of Federal Financial Management 

(OFFM) and the CFO Council to continue to identify and help address barriers to full 

exploration of the financial opportunities associated with addressing Improper 

Payments. 

16. The Paperwork Reduction Act, the electronic amendments to the Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA), theE-Government Act, and current OMB circulars, together have led to a 

government-wide policy that supports the dissemination of government information and 

access to that information via the internet. What standard should be applied in determining 

the circumstances under which the federal government should be proactive in its 

dissemination of information to the public or when the dissemination of information should 

require a FOIA request? 

If confirmed, I would seek to better understand the core issues involved to ensure that the 

U.S. Government can support the broad dissemination of information to the public in the 

most relevant and open ways possible. 

Contracting and Procurement Policy 

17. If confirmed, what specific changes will you make to federal procurement policy that will 

limit the federal government's responsibility for cost overruns on existing and future 

contracts? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 17 
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If confinned, !look forward to working with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the 

General Services Administration and the Chief Procurement Office Council to assess existing 

activities and potential opportunities for improvement. 

18. On April 18, 2017, the President issued the "Presidential Executive Order on Buy American 

and Hire American." Please describe the role that you have had in OMB's implementation of 

this Executive Order and the role that you expect to play if confinned. 

To date, I have played no role in the implementation of this policy. If confinned, I would 

seek to learn what responsibilities are involved for the DDM related to this policy. 

19. Too onen, agencies' contracting decisions- e.g., over reliance on noncompetitive contracts, 

or inappropriate use of "cost plus" contracts- have unnecessarily inflated contract costs. 

What are the most important steps that OMB should take to ensure that agencies' contracting 

decisions do not waste taxpayer dollars? 

If confinned, I would seek to review existing practices and build a fact base to better 

understand opportunities to address cost and waste concerns associated with this aspect of 

procurement, in collaboration with OFPP, GSA and the Chief Procurement Officers Council. 

20. What factors should OMB and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) consider 

when reviewing federal agencies' business cases for the award of new government-wide 

acquisition contracts? 

If confinned, I would seek to review existing practices and build a fact base to better 

understand opportunities to address concerns and opportunities associated with this aspect of 

procurement, in collaboration with OFPP, GSA and the Chief Procurement Officers Council. 

21. What do you see as the appropriate relationship between OFPP and the acquisition policy 

functions of GSA? 

I am not familiar with the historical or functional distinctions between the two organizations, 

nor do I understand any statutory basis for historical roles, so I am not sufficiently infonned 

to comment on this. 

22. The Obama Administration focused on the use of shared services and category management 

to make federal procurement more efficient and cost-effective. If confinned, will you support 

category management? If so, what specific steps do you plan to take to continue its 

implementation? 

Both shared services and category management are well established management practices 

used by mature enterprises in the private sector. So, I am conceptually supportive of 

continuing efforts in those areas. If con finned, I would work with the relevant offices in 

OMB and GSA to better understand current activities and support enhancements to improve 

and expand upon those efforts as appropriate. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 18 
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Real Property Management 

23. What do you believe are the principal obstacles that the federal government faces in the 

management of, and where appropriate, disposition offederal real property? 

I have not been directly involved in this area to date. If confirmed, I would look forvvard to 

working with the relevant offices to assess leading practices and opportunities. 

24. What do you view to be the most significant current and potential cyber security threats 

facing our federal networks and critical infrastructure owners and operators? If confirmed, 

what steps do you intend to take to improve the nation's cyber security, both with respect to 

the government and private networks? 

The recently developed IT Modernization Reoort. was developed by OMB's Chief 

Information Security Officer in response to Executive Order 13800 in cooperation with the 

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the National Security Council (NSC) and 

experts from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This report, which is expected to 

be released publically in December 2017, appears to provide a solid overview of 

opportunities to enhance cybersecurity in the Federal Government. If confirmed I would 

look forward to working with experts in the federal cyber community to identify and support 

the required investments in technology, process, procurement and other areas needed to 

ensure a more secure cyber environment. 

Financial Management Systems 

25. What is your view of the government's current financial reporting requirements? Would you 

suggest any revisions to OMB Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements? 

To date, I have been exposed to a high-level view of financial reporting requirements, but do 

not have sufficient information to offer specific suggestions for revision. If confirmed, I 

would work with the Office of Federal Financial Management, the CFO Council and other 

relevant organizations to better understand the current requirements, their efficacy, and any 

challenges or opportunities for improvement. 

26. The Obama Administration has emphasized the importance of having appropriate risk 

management processes and systems to identify challenges early, to bring them to the 

attention of Agency leadership, and to develop solutions. As part of this effort, OMB updated 

Circular A-123 in July 2016, to adopt a more integrated risk management structure. The 

updated Circular A-123 requires Agencies to implement an enterprise risk management 

capability coordinated with the strategic planning and strategic review process established by 

the GPRA Modernization Act, and the internal control processes required by the federal 

Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) and GAO's Green Book. 

a. Do you support the integrated approach detailed in Circular A-123? 

Yes 

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b. Jf not, please explain your view on the appropriate approach to ensuring agencies 

maintain appropriate risk management practices? 

Executive Orders 

27. Under Executive Order II 030, as amended, OMB substantively reviews and clears all draft 

Presidential Executive Orders and Memoranda to agency heads prior to their issuance. What, 

in your view, is the appropriate use of executive orders? What criteria should OMB use when 

evaluating proposed executive orders? 

As a newcomer to government, I do not yet have sufficient information to have an informed 

opinion on this topic. 

28. Are there any existing executive orders that you believe should be repealed or replaced? If 

so, describe which executive orders and your reasoning. 

Since coming to Washington in September I have focused my time on the management 

agenda and as such am conceptually supportive of the spirit of executive orders associated 

with regulatory reform, government reorganization and IT Modernization. I have not 

focused on evaluating other executive orders. 

Budget and Economic Policy 

29. At a March 13,2013, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing 

titled "The Costs and lmpacts of Crisis Budgeting," witnesses discussed the numerous 

management and other challenges government shutdowns and continuing resolutions create 

for federal agencies, state governments, and government employees. If confirmed, you will 

play an important role in ensuring that agencies across government are effectively managing 

the resources entrusted to them. What steps would you take to avoid the waste and 

inefficiency that can result from the kind of budget uncertainty agency managers have been 

forced to deal with in recent years? 

If confirmed, 1 would seek to work with the Federal Controller, the OFFM, the CFO Council 

and other relevant organizations to understand key challenges and opportunities to better 

avoid waste and inefficiency. 

30. The debt limit, or debt ceiling, will soon reach the end of its suspension. Existing obligations 

will require that the debt ceiling be raised in order to avoid breaching the debt limit. 

a. Do you believe it is necessary to raise the debt ceiling? Why or why not? 

Although this particular question is not directly related to the management agenda, I 

subscribe to the commonly held belief in the broader business community that raising 

the debt ceiling is critical to the efficient functioning of the U.S. economy and the 

credit rating of the United States. 

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b. What do you believe would be the impact of not raising the debt ceiling? Would there 

be impacts on the credit rating of the United States, on the stock market, on the 

national and global economy? 

Although the debt ceiling is not directly a part ofthe management agenda, I share a 

belief that is generally held in the business community that failure to raise the debt 

ceiling could drive market instability, have macro implications for financial liquidity 

and interest rates as well as impact the credit rating of the US, which in tum would 

increase the cost of borrowing to support government operations. That being said, 

there is also general consensus in the business community that the core underlying 

issues around deficit spending and the national debt must be responsibly addressed in 

order to provide the environment for long-term economic growth. 

31. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney has arb'Ued that, were the debt ceiling breached, the 

government could choose which obligations to pay and which not to pay, and therefore that 

the debt ceiling can be breached without the government going into default on its debts. Do 

you agree with that argument? If so, and if the debt ceiling were not raised at some future 

point, which government obligations would you prioritize for payment? Which would you 

prioritize for default? 

I have not discussed this issue with Director Mulvaney, and am not knowledgeable enough to 

comment. 

32. In your view, what actions should Congress and the Administration take to address long term 

structural budgetary imbalances? By what amount do you believe our deficit should be 

reduced in order to stabilize our finances, and by how much in the short tern1 and by how 

much in the long term? What level of publicly held debt as a percentage of GDP do you 

believe would be appropriate to achieve by 2025? 

As this issue is not directly related to the management agenda, I have not studied this and 

therefore do not have an informed view on this. 

Personnel Management 

33. What do you believe the biggest challenges are in addressing skill gaps in the federal 

government? What role should OMB play in efforts to improve human capital management 

across the federal government? 

Based on preliminary analysis of current personnel practices and policies, it appears that 

many federal personnel practices and policies were designed in the 201

h century to meet the 

realities of that time. I do believe there are opportunities for a strategic assessment to align 

the human capital practices of the Federal Government to better meet the needs ofthe 21" 

century. OMB can play a strategic leadership role in cooperation with the PMC and the 

CHCOC in establishing a strategic transformation agenda around building the workforce for 

the 21" century. 

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34. What do you believe the role of the Senior Executive Service (SES) should be in the federal 

workforce? If confirmed, what, if any, measures would you take to reform theSES system? 

In my brief time at OMB, I have been impressed with the quality, experience and dedication 

of theSES employees I have met. I believe these individuals play a critical role in providing 

stable, consistent leadership, institutional expertise and perspective. If confirmed, I would 

look to better understand the current program parameters to examine if there were any ways 

in which to better leverage this program. 

35. Do you believe that hiring freezes lead to decreases in government spending? If so, does this 

come at a cost to efficiency and productivity? Do you believe the use of contractors is 

necessary and cost effective? 

I have not reviewed any empirical data on this topic and therefore do not yet have an 

informed opinion. 

Whistleb!ower Protections 

36. Please describe any previous experience-in the public or private sector--with handling 

whistleblower complaints, and what steps you took to ensure those individuals did not face 

retaliation and that their claims were thoroughly investigated? 

I do not have any specific experience with whistleblower programs. 

37. If confirmed, how will you ensure that whistleblower complaints are properly investigated? 

I understand the importance of this issue, and although I don't yet know the specifics of 

existing policies, if confirmed, I would seek to work with relevant experts and stakeholders 

to better understand the core issues and appropriately respond to them. 

38. If confirmed, will you ensure officials in your agency do not retaliate against federal 

employees, officials and contractor employees who communicate with representatives from 

this Committee, the GAO, IGs, the Office of Special Counsel, and any other statutorily 

protected channels for disclosure? 

Yes 

IV. Accountability 

39. During your career as a federal employee, have you ever used a personal email account or 

device to conduct official government business? 

No 

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a. If so, please list in what government positions you have used a personal email 

account or device to conduct official government business. 

b. If you used a personal device, please describe your general practice for doing so, and 

what specific steps you have taken to ensure that federal records created using 

personal devices and accounts were preserved. 

c. During your tenure as a federal employee or member of the beachhead team, have 

you used a smartphone app including, but not limited to, WhatsApp, Signal, Confide, 

and others that support encryption or the ability to automatically delete messages after 

they are read or sent, for work-related communications? If so, please indicate which 

application, when it was use, how often and with whom. 

40. Please provide information regarding GSA's oversight the Federal Travel Regulations 

including an explanation of how GSA ensures that federal agencies comply with their 

reporting requirements for executive travel on "government aircraft." In addition, please 

provide copies of the most recent agency reports, which should have been provided to GSA 

on April30. 

l have not been involved in this activity, but would be happy to share this request with 

relevant parties at GSA. 

41. What is your assessment of the oversight work performed by the !Gs over the past decade? 

What do you view as the greatest challenges facing the IGs? What do you see OMB's role in 

addressing these challenges? 

During my brief time at OMB as a senior advisor, I have not had the opportunity to study the 

work conducted by the IG community. If confirmed, !look forward to learning more about 

this work and getting to know the members of this community via the Council of the 

Inspectors General on Integrity and Eftlciency (CIGIE) meetings and any other relevant 

interactions. 

42. During your career, has your conduct as a federal employee ever been subject to an 

investigation or audit by an Inspector General, Oftice of Special Counsel, Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission, Department of Justice, or any other federal investigative entity? If 

so, please describe the investigation or audit and its outcome. 

No 

43. During your career as a federal employee, have you ever declined to implement 

recommendations made by the Office of Inspector General, the Office of Government Ethics, 

the Office of Special Counsel or the Government Accountability Office? If so, please 

describe the recommendations that were made and your reasoning for not implementing 

them. 

No 

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44. If confirmed, do you pledge to implement recommendations made by the Office of 

Government Ethics, the Office of Special Counsel and the Government Accountability 

Office? 

If confirn1ed, I am committed to working with these important organizations to understand 

any issues raised and take relevant action as appropriate. 

V. Relations with Congress and the Public 

45. If confirmed, how will you make certain that you will respond in a timely manner to Member 

requests for information? 

If confirmed, it would be a priority for me and the Management team to respond in a timely 

manner to Member requests. 

46. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

information from the Ranking Member of any duly constituted committee of the Congress? 

Yes. 

47. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request tor 

information from members of Congress? 

Yes. 

48. If confirmed, do you commit to take all reasonable steps to ensure that you and your agency 

comply with deadlines established for requested information? 

Yes 

49. If confirmed, do you commit to protect subordinate officials or employees from reprisal or 

retaliation for any testimony, briefings or communications with members of Congress? 

Yes 

50. If confirmed, will you ensure that your staff will fully and promptly provide information and 

access to appropriate documents and officials in response to requests made by the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service? 

Yes 

51. If confirmed, will you agree to work with representatives from this Committee and the GAO 

to promptly implement recommendations for improving OMS's operations and 

effectiveness? 

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If con finned, I am committed to working with the GAO to understand any issues raised and 

take relevant action as appropriate. 

52. If confinned, will you direct your staff to fully and promptly respond to Freedom of 

Infonnation Act requests submitted by the American people? 

Yes 

53. If confinned, will you ensure that political appointees are not inappropriately involved in the 

review and release of Freedom of lnfonnation Act requests? 

Yes. If confinned I would direct the members of the management team to ensure that FOIA 

requests are handled appropriately in a way that is free from political considerations. 

54. If con finned, will you direct your staff to adopt a presumption of openness where practical, 

including identifying documents that can and should be proactively released to the public 

without requiring a Freedom of lnfonnation Act request? 

Yes 

55. If con finned, will you keep this Committee apprised of new infonnation if it materially 

impacts the accuracy of infonnation your agency's officials have provided us? 

Yes 

VI. Assistance 

56. Are these answers completely your own? If not, who has provided you with assistance? 

Yes 

57. Have you consulted with OMB or any other interested parties? If so, please indicate which 

entities. 

This 9thday ofNovember, 2017 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 25 
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Senator Claire McCaskill 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14,2017 

COOPERATION WITH CONGRESS 

Q: Do you agree that Freedom oflnformation Act (FOIA) exemptions do not apply to 

congressional oversight requests? 

While I cannot speak to the legal requirements of the FOIA, I am committed to working 

with Congress to ensure that Congress has the information that it needs in order to fulfill 

its critical oversight function. 

Q: Will you pledge to copy the Ranking Member and/or staff on all official correspondence 

with the Commiltee and ensure that such correspondence is transmitted to the Ranking 

Member's office contemporaneous with transmittal to the Committee? 

I am committed to working with both the majority and the minority to ensure that 

Congress has the information that it needs in order to fulfill its important oversight 

function. 

Q: Will you pledge to ensure that all meetings, briefings, and other official engagements 

with the Committee staff include both the majority and minority? 

I am committed to working with Congress to ensure that Congress has the necessary 

information to support its oversight activities. 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH REORGANIZATION 

In March 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) to submit a comprehensive plan to reorganize executive branch agencies. In 

April 2017, OMB issued a memorandum providing guidance to agencies on their reform plans. 

Q: Please discuss your prior experiences in implementing organizational reforms, 

and what you see as OMB's role in helping agencies to further refine and implement their 

reform plans? 

If confirmed, !look forward to working with Congress and my Executive Branch 

colleagues to ensure the reorganization and reform proposals developed are effectively 

implemented and contribute to the best possible outcomes. In the private sector, I worked 
74 

on numerous organizational reforms and learned the importance of combining needed 

updates to organizational structure with a smart "people" strategy that considers how to 

align the workforce with the current roles and skillsets that organizations need. 

Q: Please discuss what you see as OMB's role in developing the "crosscutting" proposals 

called for in OMB's April2017 memorandum. 

It is my understanding that OMB typically plays a lead role in coordinating the 

development of crosscutting policies that affect several agencies, and I expect OMB is 

playing a similar role when it comes to the Executive Branch reorganization process. If 

confirmed, I will more fully review OMB's engagement on this and other issues. 

OMB's April 2017 memorandum states that "OMB will release the final Government-wide 

Reform Plan as part of the President's FY 2019 Budget request to Congress." In your testimony 

you recognized the importance of involving stakeholders, including Congress, during the 

reorganization process. 

Q: Do you believe that Congress should be given the opportunity to review the 

Government-wide Reform Plan and provide feedback to OMB before the final 

Government-wide Reform plan is released? 

My understanding is that Congress will have further opportunities to review and respond 

to any resulting policy proposals that emerge from the initial reorganization work as part 

of the legislative process. If confirmed, I look forward to getting up to speed quickly and 

working with Congress on proposals to reorganize the Executive Branch. 

Q: If you are confirmed prior to OMB's release of the final Government-wide 

Reform Plan, will you provide the Committee with the opportunity to give feedback on 

the draft plan? 

It is my understanding that Congress will play a critical role in the success of 

nearly all significant reorganization proposals, and will have the opportunity to review 

and respond to proposals made by the Executive Branch as part of the normal legislative 

process. If confirmed, it would be a priority for me to get up to speed quickly to assess 

how the existing reorganization work will align with the President's Management 

Agenda. Moreover, I would look forward to working with Congress on this Governmentwide reform and carefully consider any feedback you have to ensure the best ultimate 

outcome. 

Q: If you are confirmed after OMB has released the final Government-wide Reform 

Plan, how will you ensure that the Committee and other stakeholders can meaningfully 

panicipate in the reorganization process? 

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It is my understanding that Congress will play a critical role in the success of 

nearly all significant reorganization proposals, and will have the opportunity to review 

and respond to proposals made by the Executive Branch as part of the normal legislative 

process. If confirmed, I look forward to working with Congress on this Government-wide 

reform and will carefully consider any feedback you have to ensure the best ultimate 

outcome. 

After the Government-wide Reform plan is released, OMB's guidance states that OMB and 

agencies will usc various performance management tools put into place by the GPRA 

Modernization Act (GPRAMA) of2010-such as cross-agency and agency priority goals and 

related quarterly data-driven reviews-to track progress in implementing planned reforms. 

However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified numerous actions OMB 

and agencies should make to improve implementation of the Act, many of which have not been 

implemented. 

Q: What steps will you take to address those actions to ensure that the Executive 

Branch is best positioned to monitor the implementation-and ultimately the effects-of any 

reforms? 

If confirmed, I am looking forward to better understanding the referenced challenges 

associated with the GPRAMA implementation to ensure that the Executive Branch is 

well positioned to monitor the impacts of reform efforts and support a continuousimprovement orientation. 

Q: How will you assess whether proposed reforms are data driven and that 

meaningful data analysis is performed? 

If confirmed, my plan for getting up to speed on the reorganization is to review: 

• Agency reorganization submissions, including the fact-base associated with those 

submissions 

OMB analysis- As part of its ongoing interactions with agencies, OMB regularly 

works with agencies to understand the strength of data underlying policy decisions 

and take appropriate action. 

• Analysis of implications of reorganization recommendations for the President's 

Management Agenda 

If confirmed, I plan to leverage these existing practices and legal structures to facilitate 

further improvements in evidence-based policy making and data-driven management. 

Q: Do you believe you will have the authority to slow down implementation if it is 

not truly data informed? 

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76 

If confirmed, I plan to leverage all existing authorities to ensure implementation efforts 

arc appropriately informed by data. 

Q: If you have concerns about the reform plans how would you go about addressing 

those concerns with OMB leadership? 

My leadership style is collaborative, but fact-based. If! have concerns about the 

direction of any activity in my purview, it is my practice to create a straightforward, factbased analysis to support my position. 

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 

GAO has reported that initial efforts to develop an inventory of federal programs-something 

that could make government more transparent and reveal areas of duplication and overlap--had 

fallen short due to inconsistent information across agencies. In a September 2017 report on 

GPRAMA implementation, GAO recommended that OMB consider a systematic approach to 

developing the program inventory, and provide time frames and associated milestones for 

implementation. 

Q: Please discuss OMB's plans for developing the federal program inventory, as required 

under GPRAMA, including time frames for its implementation and OMS's commitment 

to developing it. 

My understanding is that USASpending.gov is the focal point for many of the efforts in 

this area. Moreover, I know that teams at OMB arc working with colleagues across the 

Executive Brank to build on this effort and develop a path for further improving 

transparency of the federal governments programs, including connecting spending and 

performance information and developing a program inventory. As OMB moves forward 

on this effort. my understanding is that the process is designed to take their 

recommendations into account from GAO when developing a proposed approach. 

The Program Management Improvement Accountability Act (PMIAA) enacted in December 

2016, places requirements on OMB's DDM to help improve agency practices related to program 

and project management. 

Q: Based on your prior experiences, how can improved program and project 

management help federal agencies design and deliver projects and programs within an 

accurately defined scope, cost and schedule'~ 

Based on my prior experiences, strong program and project management discipline that 

cascades timelincs, accountability and reporting to align with project and program 

objectives is a critical part of the discipline needed to implement complex change 

agendas in an effective and efficient manner. 

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77 

Q: What arc some of the key metrics that should be used to judge improvements to 

federal program and project management? 

J f confirmed, I would look to leverage the work of the Policy Council established 

by the PMIAA and agency expertise in determining where common metrics may be 

developed and implemented for oversight and continuous improvement. 

Q: Specifically, how would you carry-out the "portfolio reviews" of GAO's high-risk 

programs, required by the act? 

If confirmed, I would work with OMB to better understand the specific requirements for 

portfolio review under the Act. And to the extent that the items on the GAO high-risk list 

require cross-agency involvement, I would work with the relevant CxO Council to 

identify the best way to identify root causes and opportunities for improvement. 

GAO has reported that top leadership attention and congressional action have been key to 

progress on high risk issues. During past administrations, OMB's DDM, the Comptroller 

General, and agency officials have met to discuss progress in addressing high-risk areas. 

Q: Do you plan to continue the meetings with agency leaders and GAO to focus 

attention on addressing high risk issues? 

My understanding is that OMB has regularly convened meetings between senior 

leadership at GAO and agencies identified on the high-risk list to discuss status updates 

and drive progress on addressing the identified risks. If confirmed, I plan to continue this 

practice. 

Q: Do you see a need to accelerate progress on high risk issues? Why or why not? If 

confirmed, what steps will you take to do so? 

GAO has performed an important public service by highlighting these issues, and if 

confirmed, I will look for opportunities to accelerate progress. 

FEDERAL WORKFORCE 

If confirmed, you will be entering this role at a time when employee morale is significantly low 

due to threats of government shutdowns and proposed budget cuts in pay, retirement, and health 

care for federal employees. 

Q: Do you support the President's proposed cuts, and why? If these cuts are adopted, what 

are your plans to empower federal employees and to improve employee morale 

government-wide? 

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78 

I believe that all workforce issues should be addressed in the context of the mission of the 

organization involved, the market environment and competitive considerations. If 

confirmed, I would seek to bring the fullest possible fact-base to the table to balance the 

mission and fiscal needs of the organization with the realities of managing a complex and 

diverse workforce in a competitive market for talent. One of the key pillars of the 

President's Management Agenda would be to develop the relevant fact-base to assess key 

questions: 

• Market competitiveness of total compensation 

• Leading practices around attracting and retaining top talent 

• Leading practices around reskilling/realigning existing talent to meet the needs of 

the 21'1 century 

Q: In your testimony, you stated that you support a '"strategic approach" to workforce 

reduction efforts. If confirmed, what specific steps will you take to ensure that any 

current or planned workforce reduction efforts are done strategically? 

I believe that all workforce issues should be addressed in the context of the mission of the 

organization involved, the market environment and competitive considerations. If 

confirmed, I would seek to bring the fullest possible fact -base to the table to balance the 

mission and fiscal needs of the organization with the realities of managing a complex and 

diverse workforce in a competitive market tor talent. One of the key pillars of the 

President's Management Agenda would be to develop the relevant fact-base to assess key 

questions: 

• Market competitiveness of total compensation 

• Leading practices around attracting and retaining top talent 

• Leading practices around reskilling/realigning existing talent to meet the needs of 

the 21 '

1 century 

Q: What do you believe are the biggest impediments to recruitment and retention of 

private sector workers who might be interested in serving as senior executives within the 

federal bureaucracy? 

From my perspective, the federal government offers the opportunity for workers 

to be involved in meaningful, important work that benefits the people of the United 

States. That opportunity is probably the most important value proposition we can offer to 

potential private sector workers. That is precisely why I decided to come to Washington. 

However, my observation to date is that in an agile, highly competitive market tor talent 

a few key barriers make it challenging to attract the best talent: 

• Slow, needlessly bureaucratic hiring process that takes up to a year to 

bring in new hires from the private sector 

• Perceptions that excessive regulation and rules make it difficult to "make a 

difference" 

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79 

• Lack of a "pay for performance" mentality that appears to reward all 

workers equally regardless of contribution or performance. 

If confinned, I would seek to identify and address root cause barriers to improving in 

those three areas. 

Q: Federal hiring freezes have historically led to an increased reliance on contractors to 

compensate for stat1ing shortages. Do you believe that the comparative costs of 

contractors and federal employees should be taken into account before implementing a 

hiring freeze? 

In a resource constrained environment I believe it is always prudent to look at the total 

cost of any strategic management decision, including indirect costs or contracting costs, 

in addition to direct labor costs. Moreover, I believe that it is also key to constantly look 

for opportunities to use process improvement and technology to find ways to do more 

with less in the long term. 

Q: What is your current understanding of the extent to which federal agencies are 

considering the comparative costs of contractors and employees as part of the strategic 

and workforce planning processes (including Agency Reform Plans)? 

As I have not been involved with or exposed to any analysis on this topic, I do not know 

what facts have been considered as pm1 of the analysis. 

Q: Do you believe that agencies should routinely conduct objective empirical analyses of the 

comparative costs of contractors and federal employees as part of the strategic and 

workforce planning processes? What do you believe OMB's role should be in facilitating 

such analyses? 

I have not had an opportunity to study the use of cost comparisons and, if confirmed, 

would confer with relevant management offices in OMB to review this matter. 

Q: In your opinion, what specific short- and long-term costs should be included in an 

empirical analysis of the comparative costs of contractors and employees? 

I have not had an opportunity to study the use of cost comparisons and, if confirmed, 

would confer with relevant management offices in OMB to review how costs are more 

efTectively evaluated when comparing costs between public and private sector 

performance. 

According to documents obtained by the Committee, the Administration is planning to issue a 

pay freeze for federal employees beginning in 20 I 9. As you may know, there was a pay freeze 

on all federal employee pay between fiscal years 2011-2013. 

Q: Do you supp011 a pay freeze for civilian federal employees? Please explain your 

answer. 

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80 

I believe that all workforce issues should be addressed in the context of the mission of the 

organization involved, the market environment and competitive considerations. If 

confirmed, I would seek to bring the fullest possible fact-base to the table to balance the 

mission and fiscal needs of the organization with the realities of managing a complex and 

diverse workforce in a competitive market for talent. One of the key pillars of the 

President's Management Agenda would be to develop the relevant fact-base to assess key 

questions: 

• Market competitiveness of total compensation 

• Leading practices around attracting and retaining top talent 

• Leading practices around reskilling/realigning existing talent to meet the needs of 

the 21st century 

Q: How do you believe federal employee pay and compensation policy should be 

determined, and what, if any, reforms do you believe are necessary to change the way 

Federal employees pay is currently determined') 

Leading practices in the private sector have a focus on total compensation that is aligned 

with the market realities, within a ·'pay for performance'' framework. If confirmed, I 

would seek to better understand the existing pay and compensation frameworks within 

the federal government, and then assess the challenges and opportunities of aligning 

existing practices with leading practices for the 21st century. 

SECURITY CLEARANCE REFORMS 

Over the past few years, the President's Security, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance 

Accountability Council (PAC) has undertaken a number of refonns to the security clearance 

process and organizational structure in an attempt to address the significant delays in timeliness, 

improve issues of reciprocity and timeliness, move toward a policy of continuous evaluation, and 

reduce the growing backlog of background investigations. GAO recently issued a report 

recommending the PAC Principals set milestones for establishing measures for investigative 

quality, among other recommendations to improve timeliness and reduce the investigation 

backlog. Ensuring that agencies have employees and contractors with the appropriate clearances 

is critical to executing the U.S. Government's national security priorities. If confirmed, you will 

serve as chair of the PAC and lead the interagency process for reforming and strengthening the 

security, suitability, and credentialing processes. 

Q: As chair of the PAC, what reforms do you believe should be prioritized to 

strengthen the security clearance process and reduce the backlog of investigations? 

If confirmed as OMB Deputy Director for Management (DDM), I look forward to 

learning about existing PAC initiatives on this issue, and identifying any other leading 

practices that might be applicable. 

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81 

Q: Do you agree with GAO's recent recommendations and what will you do to 

address those recommendations as the chair of the P AC0 

As a Senior Advisor I have reviewed the GAO recommendations at a high-level, and 

agree with the principles outlined in that report. If confirmed as DDM, I look forward to 

digging further into the fact-base associated with those findings. To the extent those 

issues have cross-agency aspects to them, I would expect to leverage the President's 

Management Council and other Ol'v1B-led councils to drive further analysis, deliberation 

and action as appropriate. 

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82 

IT MODERNIZATION & CYBERSECURITY 

On December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the Modernizing Government Technology 

(MOT) Act into law. The MOT Act will establish agency working capital funds as well as a 

centralized Technology Modernization Fund to support agencies' modernization efforts. OMB 

will play a key role in overseeing the administration of the centralized fund and the evaluation of 

modernization proposals from agencies seeking funding. The MOT Act specifies criteria to be 

used in evaluating agency proposals, which include "addressing the greatest security and 

operational risks having the greatest governmental-wide impact and having a high probability of 

success." 

Q: If confirmed, how will you ensure that agencies facing pervasive and 

longstanding challenges to IT modernization- i.e. agencies whose proposals may not 

have a high probability of success - receive the necessary guidance and support for their 

modernization needs? 

If confirmed, I will work closely with OMB leadership and Federal agencies to 

implement the authorities provided by the MOT Act to address the most pressing IT 

Modernization requirements. 

Securing federal computer systems and networks, and protecting sensitive information has been 

a long-standing problem. This year marks the 20th anniversary of GAO identifying federal 

information security as a government-wide high-risk area. Yet, information security over the 

Executive Branch's computer systems and networks remains woefully inadequate. 

Q: How will you ensure that the appropriate levels of funding and resources are 

devoted to improving the security of federal systems and networks? 

If confirmed, I will work closely with OMB, agency leadership, and Congress to provide 

agencies with a relevant fact-base and capabilities to prioritize Federal cybersccurity 

objectives. 

Q: How will you ensure that federal agencies are appropriately expending funds and 

using resources to protect their systems, networks, and sensitive information in a costeffective and efficient manner? 

If confirmed, I will work closely with OMB and agency leadership to establish and 

maintain appropriate metrics and routines to ensure efficient and effective 

implementation of critical cyber security activities. 

One of the m<0or challenges facing the federal government is the recruitment and retention of 

qualified candidates from industries such as information technology and cybcrsecurity. 

Q: If confirmed, what specific steps will you take to make it easier for the federal 

government to recruit and retain qualified IT and cybersecurity professionals? 

10 
83 

If confirmed, I would have my team work closely with Federal agencies to determine the 

root cause(s) and prevalence of these hiring challenges, and then work with the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) to develop streamlined guidance to enhance the 

recruitment, hiring, development, and retention of IT and cybersecurity professionals. 

WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION 

Q: What specific steps will you take to promote a culture where employees can raise 

concerns to senior management, including directly to you? 

If confirmed, I would make it clear that employees could come to me to raise concerns, 

without fear of reprisal. I would work with our Human Capital leads and other OMB 

leadership to ensure that employees understand the whistle blower protections afforded to 

them, and receive required training. 

ACQUISITION REFORM 

In 2016, GAO issued a report examining the savings that have taken place as a result of 

implementing strategic sourcing initiatives like category management. Since 2014, OMB has 

taken steps to implement strategic sourcing through its category management initiative, an effort 

to more strategically manage about $275 billion--or about two-thirds-of federal procurement 

spending. By using these initiatives and leveraging the buying power of the federal government, 

the federal government has saved millions, and could increase these savings if GAO's 

recommendations are fully implemented. 

Q: If confirmed, how will you support the institutionalization of Category Management and 

its streamlined, more efficient buying principles? 

Category management is a well-established commercial management practice used by 

mature enterprises in the private sector to achieve savings and other improvements. For 

this reason, I am supportive of continuing diorts in those areas. If confirmed, I would 

work with the relevant ot1ices in OMB and GSA to better understand current activities 

and drive enhancements to improve and expand upon those efforts as appropriate. 

Q: What strategies, do you believe, need to be implemented or what barriers need to be 

overcome to achieve category management goals? 

If confirmed, l would consult with OFPP, GSA, SBA and other relevant stakeholders, to 

understand and address internal and external challenges to the use of category 

management so that taxpayers may realize the savings and efficiencies that can be created 

through the use of this management tool. 

II 
84 

Q: To help ensure that government strategic sourcing efforts reflect leading practices, GAO 

has recommended that OMB provide guidance to federal agencies that includes 

information on calculating savings and establishes mctrics to measure progress toward 

strategic sourcing goals. Do you agree with GAO's recommendation and will you 

commit to completing this guidance? 

I am not familiar with the details of this particular GAO analysis, but if confirmed, I will 

work with OFPP to review existing OMB guidance to determine if new or updated 

guidance is necessary in order to achieve the objectives of category management, 

including strategic sourcing. 

12 
85 

Senator Thomas R. Carper 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14,2017 

I. The Ted Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvement Act 

requires the Agency Transition Directors Council to meet and oversee transition-related 

activities across government. The Deputy Director tor Management at OMB serves as a 

co-chair of this council. The Council is required to meet at least once a year in nonelection years, and on a regular basis beginning at least six months before a presidential 

election. 

If confirmed. given the role and responsibility of the deputy director with respect to transition 

activities, how would you plan to lead the council and effectively prepare tor the next 

transition year? 

If confirmed, I would work with the Management team at OMB to establish an agenda 

for the Council that reflects leading practices from previous Council meetings as well as 

highlighting areas for improvement that are relevant to the current environment. I would 

seek additional input from other key stakeholders to inform the agenda as well. 

2. For the last several years, I have been a strong advocate for the Department of Homeland 

Security's headquarters consolidation project at St Elizabeths. I firmly believe that 

finishing the headquarters project would improve our national security, increase morale 

and productivity at the Department, and save money for the taxpayers. 

I believe OMB can play a central role in this project in terms of coordinating between the 

Department of Homeland Security and General Services Administration and ensuring that 

taxpayers get the best return for their dollar in the long term. 

I ask that, if con finned, you and your colleagues at OMB take an active role in this project, 

including working with the Department of Homeland Security, General Services 

Administration, and Congress to ensure that the project meets the Department's mission 

requirements and remains on time and on budget. 

I will look into this issue and share your perspective with my colleagues at the Office of 

Management and Budget. And if confirmed, I look forward to learning more about the 

project and working with you to find ways to best meet the efficiency and effectiveness 

opportunities involved. 
86 

Senator Jon Tester 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14, 2017 

Management Agenda 

As you are aware, driving a management agenda needs to identify the question of"what," such 

as what are our organization's goals and what changes or structures need to be changed. But it 

also requires the "how." The how requires leaders to be in place so they can drive the agenda. 

Whether it by choice or not, this administration still lacks senior management-level officials 

across agencies. 

1. Without senior level managers in place, how do you believe the administration should be 

driving the President's management agenda'? 

As Senior Advisor to Director Mulvaney, I have shared my perspective on three key 

areas that I believe would provide the foundation for making meaningful progress on the 

management agenda for the Federal Government in the 21" century: 

• IT Modernization 

• Data, Accountability and Transparency 

• People and the Workforce for the 21" century 

Director Mulvaney recognizes the importance of these strategic pillars and believes these 

will be a foundational part of the President's Management Agenda. 

As the Administration works with Congress on confirmations to fill out the senior 

leadership roles on the Management team at OMB, we are working with capable leaders 

(both confirmed political appointees and career) on the President's Management Council 

(PMC) to review and provide input to the President's Management Agenda. 

2. With the President's 2019 budget proposal expected in just a few more months, what 

suggestions to the President's management agenda do you plan to present to OMB 

Director Mulvaney? 

I will continue to provide the Director with additional information from the private sector 

and leading practices in government around a path forward in these strategic areas. And if 

confirmed, I plan to bring a spirit of innovation combined with private sector practices to 

drive greater efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in federal management functions. 

Specifically I will recommend to Director Mulvaney that the Administration focus on 

three transformation areas: 

• IT Modernization 

• Data, Accountability and Transparency 

People and the Workforce for the 21" century 
87 

Government Transparency 

Many of us on this committee appreciate an Executive Branch that is open and honest with what 

it is doing and how it is spending taxpayer money. But the average American does not have the 

tools we have in Congress to see what their government is doing and what it is prioritizing. 

For example, the website Performance.gov is still not up and functioning. Moreover, the website 

says that it will not be updated until February 2018, likely after when the President's new budget 

is released. That means it will be more than a year under a new administration before the 

American public has access to basic information about its government. 

I. What public transparency measures will you prioritize, should you be confirmed? 

Ifconfinned. my priority will be to I) understand and evaluate the efficacy of the existing 

tools and technology available to keep the government accountable to the American 

people; 2) build upon recent successes, such as the DATA Act implementation and the 

creation ofbeta.USAspending.gov; and 3) identify foundational elements for creating a 

data-oriented framework for the 21 51 century. 

If confirmed, I plan to work to establish a framework for public-facing government data 

sources based on consistent, appropriately interoperable standards, aligned to leading data 

management practices. In this way we can evolve leading capabilities that will provide 

the public. members of Congress, agencies, and the private sector a view into the 

progress underway to cut waste, streamline government, and improve performance, while 

also providing open data sources that allmv the private sector to drive innovation. 

2. If confirmed, would you be willing to work on initiatives, such as my bill the Public 

Online Information Act, which pushes government information online and enhances the 

transparency and accountability of our government? 

If confirmed, I will work on initiatives that push for increased government transparency 

and accountability. The 21st century government that I envision drives efficiency and 

effectiveness through openness, interoperability and transparency. I look forward to 

learning more about the Public Online Information Act, and how it may help us meet our 

objectives of increased government transparency and accountability. 

Security Clearances 

The position you have been nominated for has served as the Chair of the Security, Suitability, 

and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council (PAC). However, since the last 

administration, there has been a leadership vacuum at the PAC and the progress and reforms 

made by the previous administration have stalled. Just this week, the Government Accountability 

Office released a report that I and the Ranking Member requested about security clearance 

reform et1orts. 
88 

They recommended basic steps be taken to promote security clearance reform efforts, such as 

"developing plans, including goals and milestones" to reduce the current backlog and increase 

investigator capacity. 

1. Are you aware ofOMB's responsibilities under the PAC? 

Yes. I have a high-level understanding of those responsibilities. 

2. If so, what would be some of your first actions as PAC Chair? 

As outlined above, the OMB Deputy Director for Management (DDM) has a key role and 

important responsibilities as the Chair of the PAC in overseeing reform and ensuring 

accountability. The PACs efforts to establish the three enterprise-wide strategy 

documents that provide the PAC's updated strategic framework for the next five years. 

The PAC will work closely with the Executive Agents and the other PAC agencies to 

review and address specific GAO's recommendations as appropriate. For example: 

• Strategies to reduce backlog of security clearances at NBIB 

• Strategies related to the transition of background investigations from NBIB to 

DoD 

• Strategies to fundamentally reform the background investigation process, 

including rebuilding the IT infrastructure 

If confirmed, I would assume responsibility for leading the regular meetings with the 

PAC Principal agencies ODNI, DOD, OPM- and the NBIB. The first item on the 

agenda would be to discuss the path forward for transitioning DOD's background 

investigations from NBIB to DOD: to take a hard look at current practices and standards 

to ensure that they are as efficient and effective as possible, and to prioritize the 

development of end-to-end enterprise IT shared services. 
89 

Senator Heidi Heitkamp 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14,2017 

One year ago, the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act (PMTAA), which 

I co-authored with my colleague Senator Ernst, was signed into law. PMIAA is intended to 

improve project and program management policy across the federal government and should be a 

valuable tool to reduce government waste by addressing problems associated with the budget 

overruns, scope creep, schedule slippage, and workforce capacity that have plagued some 

government projects and programs for years. I appreciated your comments during the hearing, 

and I want to follow-up with a few additional questions. 

What characteristics, based on your professional experience, make for the best managers 

of programs at federal agencies? Will you commit to being engaged in developing that 

capacity at OMB and across govcrnmcntry 

While a number of factors are critical to effective program management, based on my 

private sector experience, program managers that demonstrate strong leadership and 

provide cl1ective oversight and accountability through the use of data are most effective. 

Based on my high-level understanding, PMIAA implementation seeks to drive 

government-wide improvements in mission outcomes and cost effectiveness. OMB has a 

central role in leading this effort with agencies, and I am committed to working with 

agencies to promote project and program management capabilities to achieve those goals. 

• If confirmed, how will you engage with the private sector to identify best practices in 

program and project management that can improve federal program and project 

management? How can agile practices be utilized? 

If confirmed as Deputy Director for Management (DDM), I will leverage the work of the 

Policy Council established by the PMIAA to partner with and collaborate with the private 

sector in understanding how the practices of program management in private industry can 

be applied to federal agencies. 

• PMIAA confers several specific responsibilities to Deputy Director for Management, 

including overseeing the development of program management policy, chairing the new 

Program Management Policy Council, and putting into place widely accepted standards 

for project and program management. If confirmed, will you commit to prioritizing 

PMIAA implementation and making sure the Ol1ice of Management and Budget meets 

deadlines for issuing (a) the standards, policies, and guidelines for project and program 
90 

management and (b) the report detailing the five-year strategic plan to Congress for 

improving project and program management in the federal government? 

If confirmed as DDM, it is my understanding that I would be the Chair of the new Policy 

CounciL In that role, I would work with other key stakeholders to focus the Council on 

fulfilling the requirements outlined in the statute. 

• In your role, how will you ensure OMB's guidance to OPM supports maximizing the 

opportunities for developing the program management workforce? Will you commit to 

evaluating the Office of Personnel Management's efforts to establish a dedicated and 

stand-alone job series to ensure that it is implemented in accordance to law? 

If confirmed, I am committed to assessing the priorities and capabilities required to 

support the workforce needs for the 21'1 century. This would be a critical part of the 

President's Management Agenda. As part of that strategic priority, I would seck to work 

closely with OPM and other key stakeholders to ensure we fulfill the program 

management capability needs outlined in the PMIAA. 

• Will you commit to working with members of the United States Senate and the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to ensure that PMIAA 

implementation and ongoing oversight meets the letter of the law while increasing the 

efficiency and cfl'ectiveness of federal projects and programs? 

If confirmed, I am committed to working with the Senate and the Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs Committee to ensure that PMIAA is efl'ectively and efficiently 

implemented in a way that maximizes benefits to the American people. 
91 

Senator Gary C. Peters 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14,2017 

I. In March 2017, the President issued an Executive Order calling on OMB to develop and 

submit a comprehensive plan to reorganize executive branch agencies and reduce the size 

of the federal workforce. Tn April, before you arrived at OMB as Senior Advisor, 

Director Mulvaney issued additional guidance on these reform and workforce reduction 

plans. As I understand it, OMB is currently using these Agency Reform Plans to prepare 

its comprehensive proposal, slated for release in February 2018. If confirmed, what role 

do you expect to play in developing and implementing OMB's comprehensive 

government reorganization plan'? What prior experience do you have implementing 

organizational reforms? 

Organizational redesign is a tool that is frequently used in the private sector to help align 

enterprise priorities with the operating units tasked with supporting those priorities. And 

although it is not the only tool that helps drive alignment with mission, if confirmed. I 

look forward to working with Congress and my Executive Branch colleagues to optimally 

align the Executive Branch reorganization activities with the goals of the President's 

Management Agenda, focused on transforming government capabilities to support 

agency missions in the 21st century. I would bring to this activity 20+ years of 

organizational redesign, implementation and change management activity from the 

private sector. 

2. Reports have surfaced that the Administration may plan to freeze federal employee pay 

for Fiscal Year 2019. This potential pay freeze would come on the heels of years of 

fltrloughs and previous pay freezes already incurred by federal employees, including over 

25,000 hardworking federal employees in Michigan, even as government reports show 

that federal compensation is lagging behind the private sector during a time of continued 

economic gro\'.1h. At the same time, you have testified about the need to develop a 

twenty-first century federal workforce and tlnd ways to compete against the private 

sector in attracting and retaining talent in high-demand tlelds, like cybersccurity. How 

do you square this need to compete with the potential for another hiring freeze or 

freeze on federal employee pay? What are your specific plans to attract talented 

personnel to the public sector and retain this talent, especially in high-demand 

technical fields? 
92 

If confirmed as Deputy Director for Management (DDM), I would work with the 

President's Management Council and the Chief Human Capital Officer (CIICO) Council 

to establish a baseline for evaluating core foundational elements for aligning the Federal 

workforce to the needs of the 21st century. In particular, I would seek to identify leading 

practices from state and local governments and from the private sector to address the 

following core elements: 

• Appropriate recruitment, hiring and dismissal practices 

• Competitive and equitable total compensation practices aligned with 

mission performance 

• Leading retention practices 

• Reskilling/human capital investment practices 

If confirmed, !look forward to identifying any gaps between leading practices in those 

areas and working with Congress and the relevant agencies to address those gaps. 

3. You testilicd that even as Director Mulvaney serves as Acting Director of the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), his current part-time status at OMB has not been an 

impediment to your ability to maintain regular communication with him and that he is 

"highly responsive" to your requests. In the instances you have communicated with 

Director Mulvaney while he is working at the CFPB, is the Director using his OMB 

email address, his CFPB email address, both email addresses, or another means of 

communication to contact you? 

As I mentioned in the hearing, Director Mulvaney is putting in full-time hours in both of 

the jobs he is currently handling, but is taking the independence aspect of each role very 

seriously. As such, Director Mulvaney is using separate email addresses for his OMB 

and CFPB roles and uses his OMB email address to communicate with me since I have 

not had any CFPB-related business to discuss with him. 

4. Across the federal government, agencies have been implementing Action plans to use the 

industry-standard NIST Cybersecurity Framework. To successfully integrate this risk 

management framework, agency leaders need to have sufficient knowledge of threat 

mitigation strategies, cyber performance metrics, and related factors-regardless of 

mission-because the current threat landscape demands that cybersccurity is a core part 

of every agency's mission. Considering OMB's key role in federal cybersecurity and 

the urgent need to create a culture of cybersecurity awareness, do you believe OMB 

should require agency managers and executives to take mandatory training on 

cybcrsecurity risk management topics, even if their role is not focused on a 

cybcrsecurity mission area? If confirmed, how will you address this issue? 
93 

If confirmed, I would support agency e!Torts to provide workforce cybersecurity 

awareness training, as cybersecurity is a pervasive, enterprise-wide risk. I would have my 

team work with the Office of Personnel Management to help incorporate foundational 

understanding of cybersecurity risks into core employee training as appropriate. 
94 

Senator Kamala Harris 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Margaret Weichert 

Nomination of Margaret Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of 

Management and Budget 

Thursday, December 14,2017 

I) The State Department is undergoing structural reorganization that has been largely 

devised by outside contractors. This has resulted in an ongoing hiring freeze and 

significant proposed budget cuts, as well as the dissolution of numerous State 

Department positions and offices. 

a. What role has OMB played in this process, and if confirmed, what role 

would you play in the implementation ofthe State Department's 

reorganization? 

OMB was directed under an Executive Order (President's Comprehensive 

Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch) to submit a comprehensive 

government-wide reorganization plan. To implement this direction, my 

understanding is that OMB provided guidance on reorganization that 

required agencies, including the State Department, to submit an Agency 

Reform Plan as part of their FY 2019 Budget Submissions to OMB. 

That said, most of this work took place before I arrived in DC, and I have 

not been directly involved in the reorganization work in my role as Senior 

Advisor. If confirmed, I expect to get up to speed on the work done to date 

and get involved to help align organizational change recommendations with 

the President's Management Agenda. 

b. How would you measure the impact that these cuts and attrition have had 

on the State Department's mission, and ability to meet its objectives? 

As it was not in my purview as a Senior Advisor, 1 have not yet had an 

opportunity to review the process for data collection or any existing 

measurement activities associated with the reorganization. As such, I am 

not sufficiently informed yet to comment. If confirmed. I look forward to 

learning about the key issues and incorporating relevant leading practices in 

measurement. 

c. Are you concerned about the startling rates of attrition from the ranks of the 

State Department, which has been referred to by the President of the 

American Foreign Service Association as a "decapitation" of leadership? 
95 

As a Senior Advisor, I have not yet reviewed any data associated with the 

reorganization. As such, I am not sufficiently inf(mned yet to comment. 

Moreover, in general it is my understanding that OMB traditionally defers 

to agencies on issues including attrition. 

2) The federal workforce is rapidly aging, and at the same time, there are critical skill 

gaps that need to be filled for the government to function effectively. To fill those 

gaps, the government can either 1) hire new people, 2) train existing workers in 

necessary skills. or 3) do some combination of the above. Given OMB's reform plans 

focused on "workforce reduction," it seems unlikely that hiring additional workers is 

a top priority. 

a. What are your views on the importance of training? 

I believe that training and reskilling will play a critical role in ensuring that 

the federal government has a workforce capable of meeting the needs of the 

21st century. As we automate outdated government processes and 

modernize IT, many existing workers can be reskilled and redeployed to 

mission critical functions where we have existing challenges filling open 

roles including roles in cybersecurity, data/analytics, customer service and 

law enforcement roles. 

b. How do you plan on using your role as the federal chiefperfonnanee 

officer to ensure that our federal workforce is trained to be the 21st century 

workforce we need? 

If confirmed as the Deputy Director of Management (DDM), it would be a 

priority to build a fact-base to analyze the workforce needs for the 21st 

century and identify any challenges and obstacles to meeting those mission 

needs. Then. I would look to work with all relevant stakeholders to tackle 

those challenges as a priority part of the President's Management Agenda. 

3) One of your responsibilities, if confirmed, would be overseeing the Office of EGovernment and Information Technology. That office is led by the Chieflnformation 

Ortlcer of the United States, and includes a Chief Information Security Officer of the 

United States. Both of those positions have also been vacant for nearly a year. 

a. Do you agree that filling the positions of federal CIO and CISO should be 

top priorities? 

Yes. 
96 

b. Will you commit to helping ensure these positions arc filled within three 

months of your appointment should you be confinned? 

I agree on the importance of these roles and if confirmed, I will work to fill 

all the critical open roles on the Management team as quickly as possible. 

4) On May 11, 2017, the Trump Administration announced the formation of a 

Presidential Commission on Election Integrity. This Commission is aggregating 

personal information about millions of American voters, and it plans to receive and 

store that information using an ad hoc system built by White House personnel. A 

group of distinguished national security professionals, including former Director of 

National Intelligence James Clapper, have said that this data "may be a target for 

foreign adversaries seeking to interfere in future elections," and that "the Commission 

has compounded these risks by hosting the database on a White House system that has 

never been used to store information of this kind and may lack core safeguards." 

a. Do you agree with this assessment? 

The integrity of our election system is certainly an important issue for the 

country. In my role as Senior Advisor I have not had any interaction with 

the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity and am not in a position 

to assess any potential risks associated with the Commission. 

5) OMB is responsible for overseeing cybersecurity across the federal government, 

including at the White House. 

a. In your time as a Senior Advisor, did the Election Integrity Commission or 

White House staff seek OMB guidance about safeguarding this sensitive 

voter data? Do you believe that the White House's handling of this data is 

consistent with federal law and OMB guidance? 

/\s a Senior Advisor, l have not been involved in any issues related to the 

Presidential Commission on Election Integrity or any related OMB 

guidance. As such, l have no information to evaluate this issue. 

6) On December 1, 2016, the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity 

published a report with 16 recommendations for improving the federal government's 

cybcrsecurity posture. One of the recommendations is for the OMB to "require federal 

agencies to use the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity 

for any cyber security-related reporting, oversight, and policy review or creation." On 

May 19, 2017, OMB issued a memorandum requiring federal agencies to adopt the 

Framework. 
97 

a. What is the status of the federal government's implementation ofthe 

Framework? 

In my role as Senior Advisor, the OMB team has briefed me on Executive 

Order 13800. Based on that information, it is my understanding that all 

Federal agencies now use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to report metrics 

and cybersecurity spending data in accordance with OMB guidance. 

7) Since the FY2008 NDAA, there has been a moratorium on new A-76 competitive 

sourcing competitions, due to concerns about processes, fairness, cost savings, and the 

difficulty of independent verification. What are your views on the A-76 process and 

the future of the moratorium? 

Although I have received high-level briefings on federal procurement policies, I am 

not familiar with the details ofOMB Circular A-76. If confirmed, I will work with 

OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy to understand the concerns raised and 

respond appropriately to the issue. 

8) Recently. President Trump rescinded the Obama-era Executive Order 13522, Creating 

Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services. This EO 

recognized the importance of pre-decisional involvement (PDI) in ensuring that frontline federal workers and their union representatives had direct input into decisionmaking that provide results for the American people. 

a. Do you support PDI? 

As a Senior Advisor I was not involved any work related to that executive 

order, and am not sufficiently informed to have a fact-based opinion on it. 

b. How would you work with federal employee unions to ensure that their 

voice and voice of frontline employees are represented in decision making? 

If confirmed, I look forward to working with the federal employee unions 

along with other relevant stakeholder organizations to understand the issues, 

concerns and opportunities to promote the fair and equitable treatment of 

Federal employees. 

9) Right now, the federal government uses different geographic boundaries to determine 

the wages of its hourly workforce (determined by FWS locality) and its salaried 

workforce (determined by GS locality). This creates pay inequities between the two 

groups. 
98 

a. How will you work to ensure pay equity between these two groups and 

what is your view on using one standard geographic determination? 

To date as a Senior Advisor, I have had only a high-level of exposure to this 

particular issue. If confirmed, I would look forward to better understanding the 

issues associated with these different pay frameworks in order to identity any 

potential challenges or unintended consequences. Ultimately my goal if 

confinned, would be to work with relevant stakeholder groups to help 

government pay frameworks evolve to better align with the needs of a zpt 

century workforce and the market realities in which that workforce operates. 
99 

Æ 

• ' ' ..• * I SENIOR ; w Z EXECUTIVES 

***""* I ASSOCIATION 

The voice of career federal executives since 1980 

77 K Street N.E., Suite 2600 • Washington, D.C. 20002 • 202.971.3300 • seniorexecs.org 

December 13,2017 

The Honorable Ron Johnson, Chairman 

The Honorable Claire McCaskill, Ranking Member 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the Committee: 

On behalf of the Senior Executives Association (SEA)- which represents the interests of career federal 

executives in the Senior Executive Service (SES), and those in Senior Level (SL), Scientific and 

Professional (ST), and equivalent positions -I write to convey our strang support for the nomination of 

Margaret M. Weichert to be Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). 

SEA believes that, given her background as an entrepreneur and business executive, Ms. Weichert will 

bring a fresh and much needed perspective to OMB. Despite never having served previously in 

government, Ms. Weichert has demonstrated a strong ability to transfer her knowledge of best practices 

in the private sector to critical problems facing the Federal government, for example new approaches to 

performance accountability and unburdening agencies from regulations that hamper their ability to 

respond quickly to emerging challenges. SEA is strongly supportive of Ms. Weichert's nomination and 

looks forward to working with her to improve government and deliver more value to the American 

taxpayer. 

Thank you for your consideration of SEA's perspective. Please have your staff contact SEA Executive 

Director Jason Briefel (briefel@seniorexecs.org: 202-971-3300) for further information. 

Sincerely, 

Bill Valdez 

President 

Senior Executives Association 

CC: Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs