II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 709 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGIC REVIEWS AND RE7 PORTING. 

8 (a) STRATEGIC REVIEWS.— 

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

10 United States Code, is amended— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 709 IS

1 (A) by striking the section heading and in2 serting ‘‘Progress reviews and use of 

3 performance information’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(c) AGENCY REVIEWS OF PROGRESS TOWARDS

6 STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) COVERED GOAL DEFINED.—In this sub8 section, the term ‘covered goal’ means a goal or ob9 jective established in the strategic plan of the agency 

10 under section 306(a) of title 5. 

11 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than annu12 ally and consistent with guidance issued by the Di13 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, the 

14 head and Chief Operating Officer of each agency, 

15 shall— 

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

17 appropriate agency official responsible for the 

18 covered goal— 

19 ‘‘(i) the progress achieved toward the 

20 covered goal— 

21 ‘‘(I) during the most recent fiscal 

22 year; or 

23 ‘‘(II) from recent sources of evi24 dence available at the time of the re25 view; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 709 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the likelihood that the agency 

2 will achieve the covered goal; 

3 ‘‘(B) coordinate with relevant personnel 

4 within and outside the agency who contribute to 

5 the accomplishment of each covered goal; 

6 ‘‘(C) assess progress toward each covered 

7 goal by reviewing performance information and 

8 other types of evidence relating to each covered 

9 goal, such as program evaluations and statis10 tical data; 

11 ‘‘(D) identify whether additional evidence 

12 is necessary to better assess progress toward 

13 each covered goal, and prioritize the develop14 ment of the evidence described in subparagraph 

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

16 section 312 of title 5, if applicable; 

17 ‘‘(E) assess whether relevant organizations, 

18 program activities, regulations, policies, and 

19 other activities contribute as planned to each 

20 covered goal; 

21 ‘‘(F) as appropriate, leverage the assess22 ment performed under subparagraph (E) as 

23 part of the portfolio reviews required under sec24 tion 503(c)(1)(G); 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 709 IS

1 ‘‘(G) identify any risks or impediments 

2 that would reduce or otherwise decrease the 

3 likelihood that the agency will achieve the cov4 ered goal; and 

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

6 of not being achieved, identify prospects and 

7 strategies for performance improvement, includ8 ing any necessary changes to program activi9 ties, regulations, policies, or other activities of 

10 the agency. 

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

12 of paragraph (2), the head and Chief Operating Of13 ficer of each agency shall be supported by— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Performance Improvement Officer 

15 of the agency; 

16 ‘‘(B) as appropriate, the Chief Data Offi17 cer, Evaluation Officer, Program Management 

18 Improvement Officer, and Statistical Official of 

19 the agency; and 

20 ‘‘(C) any other senior agency official des21 ignated by the head of the agency, the sus22 tained involvement of whom may help the agen23 cy increase the likelihood of achieving 1 or more 

24 covered goals.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 709 IS

1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

2 sections for Chapter 11 of title 31, United States 

3 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 

4 section 1121 and inserting the following: 

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

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

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)— 

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

9 at the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

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

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

16 SEC. 3. REVISIONS TO THE FEDERAL PERFORMANCE 

17 WEBSITE. 

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

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (C)— 

23 (I) by inserting ‘‘required to be 

24 included on the single website under 

25 subparagraph (A) and the informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Mar 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S709.IS S709

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 709 IS

1 tion’’; before ‘‘in the program inven2 tory’’; and 

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

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

5 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

6 and’’; and 

7 (iii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

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

10 subparagraph (A) conforms with the require11 ments for websites under section 3(a) of the 

12 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act 

13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking subpara15 graph (A) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) archive and preserve— 

17 ‘‘(i) the information included in the 

18 program inventory required under para19 graph (2)(B), including the information 

20 described in paragraph (3), after the end 

21 of the period during which that informa22 tion is made available; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the information included in the 

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

25 accordance with subsections (b) and (c) 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 709 IS

1 after the end of the period during which 

2 such information is made available on the 

3 website; and’’; 

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

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(6) the results achieved toward the agency pri7 ority goals established under section 1120(b)— 

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

9 overall trend data for each quarter compared to 

10 the planned level of performance; and 

11 ‘‘(B) at the end of the 2-year agency pri12 ority goal period compared to the overall 

13 planned level of performance;’’; and 

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

15 and inserting the following: 

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

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

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

19 overall trend data for each quarter compared to 

20 the planned level of performance; and 

21 ‘‘(B) at the end of the 4-year Federal Gov22 ernment priority goal period compared to the 

23 overall planned level of performance;’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 709 IS

1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOALS. 

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

3 is amended by striking the second sentence and inserting 

4 ‘‘Such goals shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) be updated and revised not less fre6 quently than during the first year of each Presi7 dential term; 

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

9 frequently than concurrently with the submis10 sion of the budget of the United States Govern11 ment under section 1105(a) made during the 

12 first full fiscal year following any year during 

13 which a term of the President commences under 

14 section 101 of title 3; 

15 ‘‘(C) include plans for the successful 

16 achievement of each goal within each single 

17 Presidential term; and 

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

19 of the budget described in subparagraph (B) 

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

21 SEC. 5. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITY GOAL CO-LEAD22 ERS. 

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

24 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 709 IS

1 ‘‘(3) For each Federal Government performance 

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

3 Government officials who shall jointly be responsible 

4 for coordinating the efforts to achieve the goal, of 

5 whom— 

6 ‘‘(A) not less than 1 shall be from the Ex7 ecutive Office of the President; and 

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

9 agency identified as contributing to the Federal 

10 Government performance goal described in 

11 paragraph (2);’’. 

12 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPUTY PERFORMANCE IM13 PROVEMENT OFFICERS. 

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

15 amended— 

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

17 following: 

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

19 head of the agency, in consultation with the Chief 

20 Operating Officer of the agency, shall designate— 

21 ‘‘(A) a Performance Improvement Officer, 

22 who shall be a senior executive of the agency; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) if the Performance Improvement Of25 ficer designated under subparagraph (A) is not 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 709 IS

1 a career appointee of the Senior Executive 

2 Service, a Deputy Performance Improvement 

3 Officer, who shall be a career appointee of the 

4 Senior Executive Service.’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(3) DEPUTY PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

7 OFFICER.—A Deputy Performance Improvement Of8 ficer designated under paragraph (1)(B) shall sup9 port the Performance Improvement Officer in car10 rying out the functions of the Performance Improve11 ment Officer under paragraph (2).’’. 

12 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF OUTDATED PILOT PROJECTS. 

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

14 States Code, is amended by striking sections 1118 and 

15 1119. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9704 of 

17 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

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

19 (2) by redesignating subsection ‘‘(d)’’ as sub20 section ‘‘(c)’’. 

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

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

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 709 IS

1 SEC. 8. CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT TO CITE TO

3 EVIDENCE-BUILDING ACTIVITIES IN STRATEGIC

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

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘, as applica7 ble’’ after ‘‘section 312’’; and 

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

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

10 head of an agency required to develop a plan de11 scribed in subsection (a) or (b) of section 312,’’ be12 fore ‘‘an assessment’’. 

13 (b) CLARIFICATION OF TIMING OF AGENCY PER14 FORMANCE REPORT.—Section 1116(b)(1) of title 31, 

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

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

17 not later than 150 days after’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS