II 

Calendar No. 46 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 709 

[Report No. 118–18] 

To improve performance and accountability in the Federal Government, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

MAY 4, 2023 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve performance and accountability in the Federal 

Government, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Agency Per5 formance Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGIC REVIEWS AND RE2 PORTING. 

3 (a) STRATEGIC REVIEWS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1121 of title 31, 

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) by striking the section heading and in7 serting ‘‘Progress reviews and use of 

8 performance information’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(c) AGENCY REVIEWS OF PROGRESS TOWARDS

11 STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) COVERED GOAL DEFINED.—In this sub13 section, the term ‘covered goal’ means a goal or ob14 jective established in the strategic plan of the agency 

15 under section 306(a) of title 5. 

16 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than annu17 ally and consistent with guidance issued by the Di18 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, the 

19 head and Chief Operating Officer of each agency, 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) for each covered goal, review with the 

22 appropriate agency official responsible for the 

23 covered goal— 

24 ‘‘(i) the progress achieved toward the 

25 covered goal— 


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1 ‘‘(I) during the most recent fiscal 

2 year; or 

3 ‘‘(II) from recent sources of evi4 dence available at the time of the re5 view; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the likelihood that the agency 

7 will achieve the covered goal; 

8 ‘‘(B) coordinate with relevant personnel 

9 within and outside the agency who contribute to 

10 the accomplishment of each covered goal; 

11 ‘‘(C) assess progress toward each covered 

12 goal by reviewing performance information and 

13 other types of evidence relating to each covered 

14 goal, such as program evaluations and statis15 tical data; 

16 ‘‘(D) identify whether additional evidence 

17 is necessary to better assess progress toward 

18 each covered goal, and prioritize the develop19 ment of the evidence described in subparagraph 

20 (C), such as through the plans required under 

21 section 312 of title 5, if applicable; 

22 ‘‘(E) assess whether relevant organizations, 

23 program activities, regulations, policies, and 

24 other activities contribute as planned to each 

25 covered goal; 


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1 ‘‘(F) as appropriate, leverage the assess2 ment performed under subparagraph (E) as 

3 part of the portfolio reviews required under sec4 tion 503(c)(1)(G); 

5 ‘‘(G) identify any risks or impediments 

6 that would reduce or otherwise decrease the 

7 likelihood that the agency will achieve the cov8 ered goal; and 

9 ‘‘(H) for each covered goal at greatest risk 

10 of not being achieved, identify prospects and 

11 strategies for performance improvement, includ12 ing any necessary changes to program activi13 ties, regulations, policies, or other activities of 

14 the agency. 

15 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT.—In fulfilling the requirements 

16 of paragraph (2), the head and Chief Operating Of17 ficer of each agency shall be supported by— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Performance Improvement Officer 

19 of the agency; 

20 ‘‘(B) as appropriate, the Chief Data Offi21 cer, Evaluation Officer, Program Management 

22 Improvement Officer, and Statistical Official of 

23 the agency; and 

24 ‘‘(C) any other senior agency official des25 ignated by the head of the agency, the susVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S709.RS S709

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1 tained involvement of whom may help the agen2 cy increase the likelihood of achieving 1 or more 

3 covered goals.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

5 sections for Chapter 11 of title 31, United States 

6 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 

7 section 1121 and inserting the following: 

‘‘1121. Progress reviews and use of performance information.’’. 

8 (b) SUMMARY REQUIRED.—Section 1116 of title 31, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (6)(E), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 at the end; 

13 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(8) include a summary of the findings of the 

17 review of the agency under section 1121(c).’’; and 

18 (2) by striking subsections (f) through (i). 

19 SEC. 3. REVISIONS TO THE FEDERAL PERFORMANCE 

20 WEBSITE. 

21 Section 1122 of title 31, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

25 (i) in subparagraph (C)— 


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1 (I) by inserting ‘‘required to be 

2 included on the single website under 

3 subparagraph (A) and the informa4 tion’’; before ‘‘in the program inven5 tory’’; and 

6 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

8 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

9 and’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(E) ensure that the website described in 

13 subparagraph (A) conforms with the require14 ments for websites under section 3(a) of the 

15 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act 

16 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking subpara18 graph (A) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) archive and preserve— 

20 ‘‘(i) the information included in the 

21 program inventory required under para22 graph (2)(B), including the information 

23 described in paragraph (3), after the end 

24 of the period during which that informa25 tion is made available; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the information included in the 

2 single website under paragraph (2)(A) in 

3 accordance with subsections (b) and (c) 

4 after the end of the period during which 

5 such information is made available on the 

6 website; and’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (6) 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(6) the results achieved toward the agency pri10 ority goals established under section 1120(b)— 

11 ‘‘(A) during the most recent quarter and 

12 overall trend data for each quarter compared to 

13 the planned level of performance; and 

14 ‘‘(B) at the end of the 2-year agency pri15 ority goal period compared to the overall 

16 planned level of performance;’’; and 

17 (3) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (5) 

18 and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) the results achieved toward the priority 

20 goals developed under section 1120(a)(1)— 

21 ‘‘(A) during the most recent quarter and 

22 overall trend data for each quarter compared to 

23 the planned level of performance; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) at the end of the 4-year Federal Gov2 ernment priority goal period compared to the 

3 overall planned level of performance;’’. 

4 SEC. 4. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOALS. 

5 Section 1120(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code, 

6 is amended by striking the second sentence and inserting 

7 ‘‘Such goals shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) be updated and revised not less fre9 quently than during the first year of each Presi10 dential term; 

11 ‘‘(B) be made publicly available not less 

12 frequently than concurrently with the submis13 sion of the budget of the United States Govern14 ment under section 1105(a) made during the 

15 first full fiscal year following any year during 

16 which a term of the President commences under 

17 section 101 of title 3; 

18 ‘‘(C) include plans for the successful 

19 achievement of each goal within each single 

20 Presidential term; and 

21 ‘‘(D) explicitly cite to any specific contents 

22 of the budget described in subparagraph (B) 

23 that support the achievement of each goal.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOAL CO-LEAD2 ERS. 

3 Section 1115(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

4 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(3) For each Federal Government performance 

7 goal, identify, as appropriate, not fewer than 2 lead 

8 Government officials who shall jointly be responsible 

9 for coordinating the efforts to achieve the goal, of 

10 whom— 

11 ‘‘(A) not less than 1 shall be from the Ex12 ecutive Office of the President; and 

13 ‘‘(B) not less than 1 shall be from an 

14 agency identified as contributing to the Federal 

15 Government performance goal described in 

16 paragraph (2);’’. 

17 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPUTY PERFORMANCE IM18 PROVEMENT OFFICERS. 

19 Section 1124(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—At each agency, the 

24 head of the agency, in consultation with the Chief 

25 Operating Officer of the agency, shall designate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a Performance Improvement Officer, 

2 who shall be a senior executive of the agency; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) if the Performance Improvement Of5 ficer designated under subparagraph (A) is not 

6 a career appointee of the Senior Executive 

7 Service, a Deputy Performance Improvement 

8 Officer, who shall be a career appointee of the 

9 Senior Executive Service.’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) DEPUTY PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

12 OFFICER.—A Deputy Performance Improvement Of13 ficer designated under paragraph (1)(B) shall sup14 port the Performance Improvement Officer in car15 rying out the functions of the Performance Improve16 ment Officer under paragraph (2).’’. 

17 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF OUTDATED PILOT PROJECTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United 

19 States Code, is amended by striking sections 1118 and 

20 1119. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9704 of 

22 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) by striking subsection (c); and 

24 (2) by redesignating subsection ‘‘(d)’’ as sub25 section ‘‘(c)’’. 


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1 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

3 by striking the items relating to sections 1118 and 1119. 

4 SEC. 8. CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT TO CITE TO

6 EVIDENCE-BUILDING ACTIVITIES IN STRATEGIC

7 PLANS.—Section 306(a) of title 5, United States Code, 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘, as applica10 ble’’ after ‘‘section 312’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (9), in the matter preceding 

12 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘with respect to the 

13 head of an agency required to develop a plan de14 scribed in subsection (a) or (b) of section 312,’’ be15 fore ‘‘an assessment’’. 

16 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TIMING OF AGENCY PER17 FORMANCE REPORT.—Section 1116(b)(1) of title 31, 

18 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘shall occur 

19 no less than 150 days after’’ and inserting ‘‘shall occur 

20 not later than 150 days after’’. 

21 SEC. 9. GAO REPORT. 

22 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

24 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

25 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 


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1 Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representa2 tives a report on the effectiveness of this Act and the amend3 ments made by this Act. 


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Calendar No. 46 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 709 

[Report No. 118–18] 

A BILL 

To improve performance and accountability in the 

Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

MAY 4, 2023 

Reported with an amendment 


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