GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548

Comptroller General

of the United States

January 18, 2001

The Honorable George V. Voinovich

Committee on Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

Subject: Potential Questions to Elicit Nominees’ Views on Agencies’ Management

Challenges

Dear Senator Voinovich:

This letter responds to your request for potential questions that Senate committees of

jurisdiction could use to help determine the leadership and management experience

and capabilities of individuals nominated to selected leadership positions in major

executive branch agencies. These questions are based on the major management

challenges and program risks as identified on our Transition Web site

(www.gao.gov/transition) and discussed in detail in our recent Performance and

Accountability and High Risk Series (http://www.gao.gov/pas/2001/pas01.html). Our

suggested questions are also consistent with the list of broad management-related

questions that we provided at your request in August.1 Enclosures I through XXII

highlight the major management challenges and program risks, a list of potential

questions, and a GAO contact for each agency.

These questions are intended to contribute to the diverse array of resources available

to Senators as they fulfill their constitutional responsibilities to advise and consent

on presidential nominations. We suggest that these questions will be most useful to

the Senate and the nominees if they serve as a basis for prompting discussion—both

informal and formal. We do not suggest that they be added merely as another

element to what is widely regarded as an overly burdensome confirmation process.

The questions cover a wide range of management-related issues in different

organizations within each agency. As a result, all questions will not be relevant to all

nominees.

 1 

Confirmation of Political Appointees: Eliciting Nominees’ Views on Leadership and Management

Issues (GAO/GGD-00-174, Aug. 11, 2000).
Page 2 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents earlier, we plan

no further distribution of this letter until 30 days from its date. At that time, we will

make copies available to others upon request. This letter will also be available on

GAO’s home page at http://www.gao.gov.

Sincerely yours,

David M. Walker

Comptroller General

of the United States

Enclosures - 22

cc: Senator Fred Thompson

 Senator Joseph Lieberman

 Senator Richard J. Durbin
Enclosure I Enclosure I

3 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) faces critical challenges in supporting the

profitability and productivity of farming, protecting the environment, ensuring food

safety, improving the well-being of rural America, promoting the domestic marketing and

the export of food and farm products, and providing food assistance to Americans in

need. USDA has taken a number of actions to address its program and management

weaknesses, including actions taken to improve the farm loan program. However, there

are still a number of challenges that USDA faces in carrying out its responsibilities.

Congress has a key role in ensuring that USDA effectively addresses these challenges.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Agriculture.

2

 Additional information about program

and management challenges at USDA and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. In the private sector, a company must be customer focused to survive. While USDA

has made strides in reducing and collocating its county office service centers, little

has changed in how these offices serve farmers—one of USDA’s main customers.

What is your vision for better delivery of services to farmers in order to meet their

needs in the 21st century?

2. USDA is tasked with providing billions of dollars in nutrition assistance benefits to

millions of Americans. How can USDA more effectively and efficiently provide these

benefits to eligible individuals while maintaining program integrity?

 2

 GAO-01-242, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• USDA's farm loan programs remain vulnerable to loss, but high-risk areas have been

addressed

• Delivery of services to farmers has improved, but challenges remain

• USDA needs to effectively and efficiently provide food assistance benefits to eligible

individuals while maintaining program integrity

• Fundamental changes are needed to minimize foodborne illnesses

• USDA needs to strengthen Department-wide information security

• USDA continues to lack financial accountability over billions of dollars in assets

• The Forest Service must provide the Congress and the public with a clear

understanding of what it accomplishes with appropriated funds

• Problems persist in processing discrimination complaints
Enclosure I Enclosure I

4 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. It has been reported that USDA needs to improve its performance management. For

example, the Forest Service faces major hurdles and needs to make performance

management one of its top priorities. How are you going to provide the leadership to

quickly implement a successful performance accountability system across the

Department?

4. What management priority will you give information security at USDA, and how do

you plan to ensure that sufficient steps are taken to strengthen and fully resolve

security problems Departmentwide?

5. How would you address USDA’s lack of reliable, useful, and timely financial

information that has prohibited the Department from ever obtaining a “clean” opinion

on its financial statements?

6. Similar to other federal agencies, USDA is experiencing human capital challenges.

For example, USDA’s Office of Civil Rights has experienced continuing problems

relating to management turnover, reorganizations, inadequate staff and managerial

expertise, and poor working relationships. Can you provide a self-assessment of your

leadership capabilities for effectively overcoming these problems to produce a high

performing workforce?

Point of Contact:

Robert A. Robinson

Telephone: (202) 512-3841

E-mail: robinsonr@gao.gov
Enclosure II Enclosure II

5 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce faces critical challenges in achieving its goals of

promoting job creation and improving living standards for all Americans through

economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development.

Although Commerce has achieved many successes—such as completing the 2000

decennial census and modernizing its weather systems—major challenges remain that

will require sustained attention by Commerce and Congress.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Commerce.

3

 Additional information about program

and management challenges at Commerce and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. GAO reported that the ability of Commerce and other trade agencies to monitor and

enforce trade agreements was limited because the agencies (1) lacked sufficient

numbers of experienced staff with the right expertise; (2) did not always get needed

support from other agencies; and (3) sometimes had difficulty obtaining input from

the private sector. What steps would you take to improve Commerce’s monitoring

and enforcement efforts?

2. Given that at least 17 federal agencies are involved in monitoring and enforcing trade

agreements, what actions would you take to improve policy coordination to ensure

foreign compliance with those agreements? What do you see as Commerce’s unique

role in monitoring compliance with trade agreements, and how does it differ from

that of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative? How would you promote closer

coordination between the two agencies, which has been problematic in the past?

3. The Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) has streamlined export controls and

reduced the volume of license applications to be reviewed. Given these changes,

 3

 GAO-01-243, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Increase the access of U. S. businesses to international markets

• Ensure that the United States is secure from the proliferation of dual-use

commodities and chemical weapons

• Ensure that weather forecasts and severe weather warnings are accurate and

timely

• Improve the economy in distressed areas

• Address other challenges to building a high-performing organization
Enclosure II Enclosure II

6 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

what is the appropriate level of resources that Commerce should apply to enforcing

U.S. export laws and regulations? If you do not anticipate a decrease in the workload

and funding, explain why.

4. Exporters are permitted to determine for themselves whether they need to apply for a

license to export certain sensitive technologies without ever notifying BXA. What

steps will you take to help BXA ensure that its law enforcement program is protecting

such dual-use commodities from being used for proliferation purposes?

5. The interagency process used to evaluate export license requests, consider purchases

of U.S. companies with classified contract by foreign companies, and assess other

areas of national security concerns, often reflects discrepancies between the

objectives of U.S. businesses and the U.S. government. What support do you believe

the interagency process deserves? How do you plan to use it to satisfy your mission?

6. In recent years, the National Weather Service (NWS) has developed several new

systems under its modernization program. What approaches would you take to

ensure that NWS has the capability to provide accurate and timely weather warnings?

7. In September 2000, GAO reported that at least 10 agencies administer programs that

are intended to assist distressed communities. Congress has urged the Economic

Development Administration (EDA) to aggressively pursue efforts to increase the

efficiency of the federal response to distressed communities by working with other

agencies. What changes will you implement to ensure that EDA works with other

federal agencies to increase the efficiency of the federal response to distressed

communities?

8. While Commerce received an unqualified opinion on all of its financial statements for

fiscal year 1999, Commerce’s Chief Financial Officer noted that a diligent effort is

needed to continue to receive unqualified audit opinions on future Commerce

financial statements. In particular, one of the remaining material weaknesses is the

lack of a single, integrated financial system. What steps do you plan to take to ensure

that Commerce’s financial management progress is sustained?

9. What are your views on the appropriate roles of the Bureau of the Census and the

Department of Commerce in planning for the next census? How can Commerce best

strike a balance between the Department's need to provide appropriate political

leadership and hold the Bureau accountable for results on the one hand, and the

Bureau's need for independence on the other?

Point of Contact:

Thomas J. McCool

Telephone: (202) 512-8678

E-mail: mccoolt@gao.gov
Enclosure III Enclosure III

7 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Defense

Despite the successes of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, and Kosovo, many of the

key business processes that are critical to achieving the Department of Defense’s (DOD)

mission are inefficient and ineffective. If these and related support problems are not

addressed, inefficiencies will continue to make the cost of carrying out assigned

missions unnecessarily high and, more important, will increase the risk associated with

those missions. To its credit, DOD has initiated a number of Departmentwide reform

initiatives and other actions to improve its key business processes in such areas as

financial and information management, weapon systems acquisitions, and logistics

reengineering. Although these initiatives have produced some positive results, much

more remains to be done before the reform process is successfully completed.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Defense.

4

 Additional information about program and

management challenges at DOD and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. What do you believe are the main issues to consider in the upcoming Quadrennial

Defense Review to improve its usefulness as a strategic planning tool, and what is

needed to ensure that the review provides specific solutions to address the strategyresource mismatch?

2. As you know, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) provides a

framework for DOD and other federal agencies to achieve greater accountability in

their programs and operations. How do you intend to ensure that the principles of

this law are implemented within DOD?

 4

 GAO-01-244, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Developing strategic plans that lead to desired mission outcomes

• Hiring, supporting, and retaining military and civilian personnel with the skills to

meet mission needs

• Establishing financial management operations that provide reliable information

and foster accountability

• Effectively managing information technology investments

• Reforming acquisition processes while meeting military needs

• Improving processes and controls to reduce contract risk

• Creating an efficient and responsive support infrastructure

• Providing logistics support that is economical and responsive
Enclosure III Enclosure III

8 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. GAO has noted that DOD’s strategic plan is not adequately tied to its mission

outcomes, which is essential for DOD to achieve needed reforms. Also, GAO has

reported that measures in DOD’s performance plan often have not addressed a costbased efficiency aspect of performance, making it difficult to fully assess DOD’s

efficiency and effectiveness. How do you propose to address these inefficiencies?

4. When the All-Volunteer Force was still in its infancy, it was not clear at that time

whether it would succeed in providing adequate manpower for our military services.

Recently, several of the services have experienced increased difficulties in recruiting

and retaining the active-duty personnel they need. How do you see the role of the

Office of the Secretary of Defense and each of the military departments in dealing

with the issues of recruiting shortfalls and high early attrition among first-term

personnel?

5. The DOD workforce is not only becoming smaller, it is also becoming older. What

would you see as the main solutions to revitalize DOD’s civilian workforce?

6. Last year, DOD reported that it did not expect to have the necessary systems in place

to be able to prepare financial statements that could comply with generally accepted

accounting principles before fiscal year 2003. How does your background and

experience enable you to address the Department’s long-standing and pervasive

financial management problems? What are your plans for this important area?

7. What specific actions do you envision taking to ensure that the Chief Information

Officers (CIO) effectively implement vital Clinger-Cohen Act provisions, such as use

of enterprise information technology (IT) architectures and employment of effective

IT investment decisionmaking? What are your plans for having the CIOs provide

concentrated and directed attention to such pressing IT issues as information

security and electronic government?

8. Many of the same problems in weapon system acquisitions that have existed for

decades—cost growth, schedule slippage, and performance shortfalls—exist today.

What do you see as the root causes for such persistent problems? What would you

propose as solutions?

9. There have been a number of promising initiatives undertaken in the last 5 years to

improve the outcomes of weapon system programs, including evolutionary

acquisitions, application of best commercial practices, and greater maturation of

technology before it is applied to a weapon system. How do you plan to support

these and other acquisition reforms?

10. The recent experiences of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft program reaffirm enduring

concerns that the pressures and incentives in DOD’s weapon acquisition process

encourage flawed practices. Clearly, incentives encourage making decisions to

proceed with weapons before requisite knowledge is available. Although the MV-22’s

experiences are dramatic, they are not unprecedented—the F-22 fighter, Army Cargo
Enclosure III Enclosure III

9 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Trailer, and missile defense programs have all exhibited effects of similar pressures.

How would you support the use of best commercial practices as a way to change

these incentives and improve weapon system programs?

11. DOD went through 4 rounds of base realignment and closure (BRAC) between 1988

and 1995, but believes that significant excess infrastructure continues to exist, and

has sought legislative authority in recent years for additional base closure rounds.

However, the Congress, because of concerns over the amount of savings likely to be

realized, and concerns about how the last Administration handled some closure

decisions in the 1995 round, has been unwilling to authorize additional closure

rounds. (a) Do you believe that DOD continues to have excess bases? If so, what

options do you see for reducing that excess infrastructure? (b) Will the Bush

Administration be proposing legislation for additional BRAC rounds? If so, what

changes to the process do you envision to ensure the credibility of decisionmaking?

(c) What assurance do you have that significant savings would accrue to the

Department from any additional BRAC rounds?

12. DOD has undergone significant downsizing over the past 12 years; however,

reductions in support infrastructure and business processes have not been nearly as

great as the reductions in combat forces. What ideas do you have about how to

increase the operating efficiencies on the support side of the house in DOD. Could

you share with us your vision for reforming DOD's business processes and support

infrastructure?

13. Large inventories have been a problem for DOD for decades. Are you satisfied with

actions that DOD is taking and plans to take to reduce overall inventory levels? In

your judgment, how can DOD be more business-like in its approach to managing

these large inventories and still maintain the required readiness posture?

Point of Contact:

Henry L. Hinton, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-4300

E-mail: hintonh@gao.gov
Enclosure IV Enclosure IV

10 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Education

The Department of Education faces critical challenges in achieving its goals of ensuring

access to postsecondary education, helping all children reach challenging academic

standards, building a solid foundation for learning for all children, and becoming a highperforming organization. Although Education has made much progress in improving its

management and accountability systems, major challenges remain. Many of these

challenges are long-standing and will require sustained attention by Education and

Congress. GAO has designated one particularly critical area—student financial aid—as

high risk for vulnerability to waste, fraud, error, and mismanagement.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Education.

5

 Additional information about program

and management challenges at Education and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. How do you envision your role in resolving the long-standing information and internal

control problems of the federal student financial aid programs?

2. Based on your professional experiences, how would you address the management

challenge of having to administer student financial aid programs that operate

independently with different rules, processes, and data systems and involve millions

of students, thousands of schools, and thousands of lenders, guaranty agencies, thirdparty servicers, and contractors?

3. Based on your experiences, what changes do you believe are needed to increase

access to federal student financial aid, particularly for those who need aid the most?

 5

 GAO-01-245, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Ensure access to postsecondary education while reducing the vulnerability of

student aid programs to fraud, waste, error, and mismanagement

• Encourage states to improve performance information and upgrade federal

evaluations used to assess how well all children reach challenging academic

standards

• Promote coordination with other federal agencies and school districts to help

build a solid foundation of learning for all children

• Improve financial management to help build a high-performing agency
Enclosure IV Enclosure IV

11 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

4. Education must continually balance states’ and local agencies’ need for program

flexibility with its own need for information about these programs to ensure

accountability. What would you do to improve the ability of the Department to

provide a national picture using local information? Specifically, would what you do to

facilitate the exchange of information among states and improve the quality,

timeliness, and specificity of state assessment data?

5. What are the most important considerations in constructing a research agenda for the

Department? How would you go about determining that agenda? Do you think that

the research and evaluation function in Education ought to continue to be in

Education or should it be separated out to an independent or quasi-independent

agency?

6. Education has to coordinate with other agencies to help ensure that children receive

needed services. In early education, for example, the Department of Health and

Human Services funds $8 billion of the $9 billion federal investment in early

education and child care. How would you go about determining whether federal

early education programs should continue to be organized in this manner or if all of

the programs should be administered by Education?

7. GAO found that coordination among agencies, schools, and the federal government is

critical to ensure that children of migrant agricultural workers—many of whom are at

high risk of educational failure and need services from multiple agencies—continue

to receive appropriate services. What role do you see the Department having in

meeting the needs of these children?

8. Most federal funds for elementary and secondary education are targeted to

disadvantaged children or for specific purposes like educational technology or

teacher training. Should this continue or should federal education funds be given to

states in the form of block grants?

Point of Contact:

Cynthia M. Fagnoni

Telephone: (202) 512-7215

E-mail: fagnonic@gao.gov
Enclosure V Enclosure V

12 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) faces critical challenges to maintaining the nation’s

nuclear weapons capabilities, cleaning up the contamination resulting from previous

nuclear weapons activities, fostering a reliable and sustainable energy system, promoting

U.S. leadership in science and technology, and ensuring the safety and security of

nuclear weapons materials and information. DOE has improved its management of these

issues, but major challenges remain. Many of these challenges are long-standing and will

require sustained attention by DOE and Congress. These challenges include a

particularly critical area, which GAO has designated as high risk for being vulnerable to

waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement—contract management, which encompasses

contract administration and project management.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Energy.

6

 Additional information about program and

management challenges at DOE and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Several studies have pointed to DOE’s need to deal comprehensively with the

challenge of recruiting and training the next generation of technical and managerial

staff before this need reaches crisis proportions by the end of the next decade as

experienced weapons designers and technicians reach or pass retirement age. How

will you ensure that new employees are hired to bolster the expertise needed to

manage existing projects and be trained to capitalize on the knowledge of existing

workers before they leave their current positions?

 6

 GAO-01-246, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Address project management, planning, and other issues to maintain nuclear

weapons capabilities

• Sustain management attention to correct pervasive weaknesses in security

controls

• Improve priority-setting of nonproliferation programs and coordination among

programs in the former Soviet Union

• Improve management tools and integration of activities to clean up radioactive

and hazardous wastes

• Resolve problems in contract management that place it at high risk for fraud,

waste, abuse, and mismanagement

• Improve financial management
Enclosure V Enclosure V

13 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

2. Over the past several years, reports to independent commissions, congressional

committees, the intelligence community, and others have identified serious and

pervasive weaknesses in the security programs at DOE. The problems, in part, stem

from the culture in DOE of giving security a low priority. Further, the national

laboratories have been increasingly used as centers for nondefense scientific

research in certain areas, such as biomedicine, high performance computing, and

laser technology as well as DOE’s national defense missions. How will you raise the

priority given to security at DOE? How will you strike a balance between the security

necessary to safeguard our national interests and the openness necessary for

advancements in science and technology?

3. GAO, DOE’s Inspector General, and others have raised serious concerns about

contract management at DOE. Cost and schedule overruns on major projects,

inadequate oversight of contracts, and an inability to hold contractors accountable

are just some of the issues raised. What specific steps do you plan to take to improve

DOE’s ability to oversee and manage contractors?

4. To successfully lead an organization into the future, a leader must be able to create

and share a vision that inspires people to follow. Many outside experts and past

congressional committees have reported on DOE’s inability to manage its widely

diverse missions in an effective and efficient manner. As a result, some have called

for eliminating the Department altogether, arguing that the country would be better

served if DOE’s missions were privatized, eliminated, or dispersed to other federal

agencies. For example, nuclear weapons activities could shift to the Department of

Defense (DOD), and cleanup activities to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Given the diverse missions of DOE, what specific steps do you plan to take to

successfully create a vision for the Department? How do you plan to ensure that the

entire Department, including contractors, have a common understanding of the vision

to ensure that it is accomplished?

5. DOE is managing an environmental cleanup effort across this nation that is now

estimated to cost about $200 billion. Often in the past, DOE has been criticized for

major cost overruns and failures to meet timetables for cleaning up large volumes of

radioactive and hazardous wastes. Describe some examples of your personal

leadership skills that will be brought to bear to help your employees bring such

projects to completion.

Point of Contact:

Robert A. Robinson

Telephone: (202) 512-3841

E-mail: robinsonr@gao.gov
Enclosure VI Enclosure VI

14 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with a $376 billion budget,

presents one of the more massive and complex management and program-related

challenges in the federal government. Although HHS has taken steps to address these

issues, many difficult and long-standing management challenges remain that will require

sustained attention by the Department and Congress.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Health and Human Services.

7

 Additional information

about program and management challenges at HHS and other federal agencies is

available on GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Leadership of a major department presents both policy and management challenges.

What areas of HHS management do you consider most critical to operational success,

and what priorities are you planning to set to strengthen the management of HHS?

2. Ensuring the integrity of Medicare Program payments has been in the forefront of

concern for Congress, HHS, and GAO. The Health Care Financing Administration

(HCFA) has taken a number of steps to strengthen Medicare Program integrity, but

the HHS Office of Inspector General has continued to estimate that billions of dollars

are lost each year in improper payments. What steps do you think can be taken to

control improper payments?

3. HHS is to be commended for having an unqualified or "clean" opinion on its fiscal

year 1999 financial audit, but like many other agencies, its operating divisions needed

to make heroic efforts to achieve this because of underlying financial management

weaknesses. These weaknesses include nonintegrated financial management

information systems, inadequate reconciliation procedures, and weak security over

systems information. Do you have particular approaches in mind that could help to

address these issues?

 7

 GAO-01-247, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Provide current and future generations with a well-designed and well-administered

Medicare program

• Better safeguard the integrity of the Medicare program

• Improve oversight of nursing homes so that residents receive quality care

• Ensure the safety and efficacy of medical products

• Enhance the economic independence and well-being of children and families
Enclosure VI Enclosure VI

15 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

4. As the widespread use of information technology continues, what areas of our

current health care delivery system do you believe can best capitalize on more

effective use of new technologies? In addition, how do you plan to use new and

existing information technology capabilities to more effectively and efficiently

manage HHS' operations and programs? For example, what priorities are you

planning to set for modernizing HCFA's information infrastructure and balancing

those against other Departmental funding needs?

5. By providing services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, health care providers

subject themselves to a certain level of additional regulatory scrutiny. Some

providers believe the added regulatory burden is excessive and detrimental to their

ability to focus on providing appropriate health care. At the same time, federal and

state agencies and private-sector health care organizations are continuing to increase

efforts to ensure proper payment. Do you have any particular approaches in mind on

how to minimize the effect of regulatory burdens that health care providers endure,

while at the same time providing assurance and accountability that federal health

care dollars are spent appropriately?

6. HHS has promoted the Medicare + Choice Program to elder Americans in order to

provide them with additional choice and flexibility regarding the nature and scope of

Medicare benefits they receive. Yet, recent growth in Medicare beneficiaries electing

to participate in the Medicare + Choice Program has slowed, and the number of

organizations willing to provide Medicare benefits under this program has declined.

What are your views on the long-term role of providing seniors with a managed care

option? To better secure the viability of this program, what measures do you think

would be most effective in attracting additional Managed Care Organization providers

and beneficiaries?

7. GAO has defined human capital as a governmentwide high risk area because of a

pattern of human capital shortcomings across the federal government that has eroded

mission capabilities. This issue is affecting HHS—for example, GAO has identified

shortages in staff with adequate expertise in managed care, information technology,

and financial management. What do you think are the steps that will need to be taken

to address human capital shortfalls at HHS?

8. Medicaid is partially financed by the federal government, but administered by the

states under federal guidance. In certain instances, such as Medicaid billing for

services provided in schools, some states have engaged in practices that some may

find inappropriate. Are there ways in which the states' experiences could guide HHS

in the best approach to developing more effective oversight and guidance?
Enclosure VI Enclosure VI

16 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

9. The 1996 welfare reform legislation that created Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families block grants established a time-limited system of cash aid that promotes

work for needy adults with children. What do you see as the role for HHS in ensuring

that states are held accountable for meeting federal goals while having sufficient

flexibility to meet state and local needs?

Point of Contact:

William J. Scanlon

Telephone: (202) 512-7114

E-mail: scanlonw@gao.gov
Enclosure VII Enclosure VII

17 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) faces critical management

challenges in achieving its goals of encouraging homeownership and managing about

$508 billion in insured mortgages, making housing affordable for low-income people, and

revitalizing localities. In 1994, we initially designated HUD as high risk because several

major challenges placed the integrity and accountability of HUD’s programs at high risk.

HUD is making significant changes and has made credible progress in laying the

framework for improving the way the Department is managed; however, several major

challenges remain.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Housing and Urban Development.

8

 Additional

information about program and management challenges at HUD and other federal

agencies is available on GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Since 1994, GAO has designated a variety of major program areas at HUD as high risk

because of management challenges it faces related to internal controls weaknesses,

information and financial management systems problems, organizational deficiencies,

and staffing problems. To address its management concerns, HUD in 1997

implemented its 2020 Management Reform Plan, including a reorganization that is

now substantially complete. Please describe how your background and experience

prepares you to deal with an agency like HUD that has experienced major criticism

and has struggled for several years to both improve its operations and restore the

confidence of the public and Congress in its abilities to be a results-producing

organization.

2. To accomplish its missions, HUD relies on the performance and integrity of

thousands of private and government groups, such as mortgage lenders, to administer

its programs. What do you believe is the key to effective HUD oversight under such

circumstances, given HUD’s limited staffing?

 8

 GAO-01-248, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Continued improvements needed to reduce HUD's single-family insurance risk

• Continued improvements needed to ensure HUD's rental housing assistance

programs are used effectively and efficiently

• Resolution needed for a range of information and financial management systems

and human capital issues
Enclosure VII Enclosure VII

18 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. A key component of HUD’s reform efforts was the establishment of the Real Estate

Assessment Center that has completed the first-ever physical inspection of HUD’s

multifamily and public housing projects. Do you plan to continue these physical

inspections?

4. Concerning those HUD reform efforts determined to be effective, what must be done

to ensure that they are sustained over the long run?

5. Congress, through various management performance laws, has expressed an abiding

interest in agencies' improving their information technology. GAO, in its

performance and accountability report on HUD, notes that HUD has made progress in

defining its plans and is beginning to address this issue, but has also experienced

difficulties in developing and implementing viable information and financial

management systems. What will be your priorities in resolving HUD’s information

and financial management systems problems?

6. GAO has reported that the government’s human capital management has emerged as

the “missing link” in the statutory and management framework that Congress and the

executive branch have established to provide for a more businesslike and resultsoriented federal government. GAO has also reported that, like other federal agencies,

HUD has experienced human capital problems, including inexperienced and

insufficient staff. Also, HUD has experienced substantial downsizing and

restructuring over the last several years and, like other federal agencies, now has a

workforce with a high percentage of employees nearing retirement and a limited

ability to recruit new staff. What is your vision of human capital management and the

environment you believe needs to be created at HUD?

7. HUD, like other federal agencies, is in the third year of a 5 year strategic plan, as

required by the Government Performance and Results Act. The Department recently

submitted its updated strategic plan to Congress for fiscal years 2000 through 2006

that discusses goals and strategies for achieving HUD’s missions. Please discuss how

you envision achieving HUD’s strategic goals with the existing performance

management framework if you assume leadership at HUD.

8. As you know, HUD is implementing a new process to improve its estimation of

resource needs and allocation of staff. However, before it began its staffing and

allocation process, HUD created the position of Community Builder to provide handson service and outreach to communities. HUD currently has over 600 Community

Builders. Does the Department intend, as part of its staffing allocation process, to

compare the costs and benefits of Community Builders to determine whether the

benefits are worth the costs of hiring and training them as suggested by GAO?

Point of Contact:

John H. Anderson, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-2834

E-mail: andersonj@gao.gov
Enclosure VIII Enclosure VIII

19 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of the Interior

The overarching challenge that Interior faces is striking a balance between its two basic

mandates—to protect and conserve resources for the benefit of future generations while

accommodating demands for the greater use and consumption of those resources. Some

of these challenges are long-standing and will require continued attention from the

Department and Congress.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Interior.

9

 Additional information about program and

management challenges at Interior and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. For years, Congress has, through the authorization and appropriations process,

supported various Interior programs and initiatives to protect and preserve the

nation’s precious natural resources and our endangered wildlife and plant species.

However, it is unclear what all these programs and funds have achieved to date.

What are your thoughts and views on how the Government Performance and Results

Act could be better used to establish plans, goals, and performance measures that

would give Congress a better understanding of the progress Interior is making in

these programs and initiatives, and whether it is getting the results it anticipated?

2. Over the years, there have been numerous concerns about financial management and

internal control problems in Interior, particularly with management of the Indian

Trust Funds. How do you plan to instill a priority and a sense of urgency in Interior

to strengthen its performance in this area?

3. Over the years, Interior has expended millions of dollars in computer hardware and

software to establish systems that would provide desired and needed financial and

program data and information. However, most of these efforts have not produced the

intended results. For example, many program areas lack data on the condition of the

resources or the extent to which maintenance problems exist. Without this

information, the agency cannot identify priority needs or target programmatic

 9

 GAO-01-249, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Improve management of national parks

• Address persistent management problems in Indian trust programs

• Improve management of ecosystem restoration efforts

• Address challenges in managing an expanding land base
Enclosure VIII Enclosure VIII

20 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

actions, and Congress cannot legislate needed programs or appropriate needed funds.

Based on your experience, how would you go about strengthening the capabilities of

Interior’s management information systems?

4. The federal government’s workforce has undergone significant downsizing in the past

several years, and with the current tight labor market, it is becoming increasingly

difficult to attract and retain talent. The problem is compounded at Interior because

the agency has an aging workforce and some of its positions, such as fire fighters,

require special skills and abilities that take years to train and develop. How would

you work, within current rules, to attract and retain individuals with the experience,

education, and skills needed by your agency?

5. High-performance organizations have a performance culture that effectively involves

and empowers employees to improve operational and program performance while

ensuring accountability and fairness for all employees. Interior operates in a

decentralized environment, allowing the majority of planning and management

decisions to be made by managers assigned to parks and other units. Describe your

experience of providing management and leadership in a decentralized organization.

How would you balance the need to provide discretion to local managers with

ensuring that they are accountable for achieving Departmentwide goals and

objectives?

Point of Contact:

Robert A. Robinson

Telephone: (202) 512-3841

E-mail: robinsonr@gao.gov
Enclosure IX Enclosure IX

21 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Justice

The Department of Justice faces critical challenges in meeting its mission to enforce

laws in the public interest and protect the public from violence and criminal activity,

such as drug smuggling and acts of terrorism. Although Justice has achieved many

successes in improving the nation’s justice system, major challenges remain. Some of

the challenges are long-standing and will require sustained attention by Justice and

Congress.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Justice.

10 Additional information about program and

management challenges at Justice and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. The supply of illegal drugs remain a major national problem estimated to cost society

about $100 billion annually. As the lead drug enforcement agency, DEA faces

challenges related to measuring its progress in reducing the availability of illegal

drugs. GAO recommended that DEA develop measurable performance targets for its

programs and initiatives that are consistent with those adopted for the National

Strategy. What would you see as some specific enforcement goals, and what factors

would you consider in measuring progress towards those goals?

2. The Departments of Justice and the Treasury continue to operate two similar, but

separate seized asset management and disposal programs. Currently, the

Departments are studying their programs' functions and processes to identify areas of

duplication and to assess opportunities for efficiency gains through shared resources

 10 GAO-01-250, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Improve the enforcement of immigration laws and provision of immigration and

naturalization services

• Better manage programs designed to support state and local efforts to reduce

crime

• Develop measurable performance targets to help the Drug Enforcement

Administration (DEA) determine its progress in reducing the availability of illegal

drugs

• Achieve excellence in financial management, including, but not limited to, a

Departmentwide unqualified opinion for fiscal year 2000 and beyond

• Improve the management and accountability of Justice’s asset forfeiture program
Enclosure IX Enclosure IX

22 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

and activities. How will you ensure that identified opportunities for efficiency gains

are fully integrated into each program's functions and processes?

3. The Immigration and Naturalization Services’ (INS) mission involves carrying out two

primary functions. One is an enforcement function that involves preventing aliens

from entering the United States illegally and removing aliens who succeed in doing

so. The other is a service function that involves providing services or benefits to

facilitate entry, residence, employment, and naturalization of legal immigrants.

Several critics have concluded that mission overload has impeded INS from

succeeding at either of its primary functions and that INS' service and enforcement

functions should be separated in order to better administer immigration law. There

have been several proposals to fundamentally restructure INS. What is your view of

how the federal immigration function should be organized in order to effectively and

efficiently administer the immigration laws?

4. Although Congress has more than doubled INS' budget and staffing levels since 1993,

INS has had ongoing problems both managing its programs and achieving results.

For example, INS has clamped down in certain locations, such as San Diego and El

Paso, but instead of deterring illegal immigration, these efforts seem to have simply

shifted the illegal traffic to areas such as El Centro, California, and Yuma Arizona.

How would your experiences help to improve INS’ border enforcement?

5. INS favors releasing aliens from detention who arrive with fraudulent, improper, or

no documents if an INS asylum officer determines that they have a credible fear of

persecution or torture and do not pose a risk of flight or danger to the community.

Between April 1, 1997, and September 30, 1999, of the 2,351 aliens who were released

and subsequently received an immigration judge's decision regarding their claim of

persecution, 40 percent did not appear for their removal hearing. How would you

manage the release of aliens in cases when an asylum officer determined the aliens to

have a credible fear of persecution?

6. Recent GAO reviews have identified several weaknesses in INS’ management of its

information technology (IT) resources. Specifically, GAO reported that INS' lack of

an enterprise architecture and defined and disciplined processes to select, control,

and evaluate its IT investments hampers INS' ability to know whether it is making the

right investment decisions and whether it has selected the right mix of investments to

best meet its overall mission and priorities. As a result, GAO recommended that the

Commissioner of INS limit requests for future appropriations to efforts that (1)

support ongoing operations and maintenance of existing systems, (2) are small and

represent low technical risk and can be delivered in a short period of time, (3) are

congressionally mandated, or (4) support efforts to develop an enterprise

architecture and implement IT investment management processes. What are your

plans for addressing this recommendation?

7. The Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs, Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services, and Weed and Seed Programs provide significant federal dollars in

grants to supplement local community crime fighting efforts. While each program
Enclosure IX Enclosure IX

23 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

contributes in various ways to achieve Justice's goals to assist local communities,

Justice’s current performance management system does not clearly explain the

nature and extent of each program's contribution. What actions would you take to

(1) develop performance measures that track program outcomes, (2) develop criteria

to determine when to reduce or withdraw program funding, and (3) improve program

monitoring to ensure that local communities meet grant requirements?

8. Justice continues to face many challenges in its ongoing efforts to improve the

accuracy and reliability of its financial and information management systems and

correct internal control weaknesses. Describe your role in addressing these

challenges.

9. The financial management systems at several of Justice’s bureaus do not meet federal

financial management systems requirements and cannot provide reliable financial

information for managing day-to-day operations and holding managers accountable.

What will you do to help Justice implement effective financial management systems

throughout the agency to improve accountability?

Point of Contact:

Norm Rabkin

Telephone: (202) 512-9110

E-mail: rabkinn@gao.gov
Enclosure X Enclosure X

24 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor faces important challenges in achieving its goals of promoting

the welfare and economic security of America’s more than 100 million workers and

helping to ensure that the workplaces of 10 million employers are free from dangerous

hazards. Labor has taken action to address many of these challenges. However,

additional effort is needed and is especially critical given the context in which Labor

operates—a rapidly changing workforce and work environment; shared program

responsibility with numerous state organizations and as many as 14 federal entities; and

a decentralized management structure that includes 22 agencies, more than 1,000 field

offices, and a vast array of departmental responsibilities. In this context, GAO’s work

has shown that Labor faces several key challenges in achieving its goals.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Labor.

11 Additional information about program and

management challenges at Labor and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. The Department of Labor is essentially a “holding company” that has numerous

missions, activities, and organizations. For years, Labor has struggled with managing

a decentralized structure, while at the same time trying to ensure that overall

Departmental goals are met. What experience have you had in managing large,

diverse organizations, and what do you believe is the key to managing such an

organization?

2. For years, Labor and Congress have discussed how Labor can achieve efficient

customer service—that is, provide the necessary services or protections without

unduly burdening employers or states. In some areas, we have made great strides,

while we continue to struggle in others. What are your ideas about how to better

meet client needs while not burdening employers in key areas, such as providing job

training, protecting wages and working conditions, and providing pension and

retirement benefits?

 11 GAO-01-251, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Increasing the employment and earnings of America’s workforce

• Protecting the benefits of workers

• Fostering safe and healthy workplaces
Enclosure X Enclosure X

25 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. GAO, Labor’s Inspector General (IG), and others have continued to raise concerns

that the Department is not updating its programs and pertinent laws to keep up with

changes in the workforce, employer and employee practices, and the environment. In

your view, what are the implications of these changes for the Department’s programs,

specifically for job training, wages and working conditions, and pensions, and how do

you believe the Department should be responding?

4. GAO, Labor’s IG, and others have raised concerns about the Department’s

development and use of data and performance measures; in short, for many job

training and worker protection programs, the Department really does not know how

well its programs are working. What experience have you had developing quality or

outcome measures, and how do you plan to apply your experience to the Department

to ensure that it has the proper data to assess its performance?

5. Labor must coordinate with a myriad of federal and state agencies to conduct just

about every function for which it is responsible, from job training to worker

protection to pension and retirement benefits. However, GAO and others have noted

on several occasions that the Department often does not coordinate with other

entities, leading to program fragmentation, duplication, client frustration or burden,

or possibly weakened worker protection. What experience do you have in managing

the coordination of multiple entities for a common goal, and how will you hold

managers accountable for properly coordinating these activities?

Point of Contact:

Cynthia M. Fagnoni

Telephone: (202) 512-7215

E-mail: fagnonic@gao.gov
Enclosure XI Enclosure XI

26 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of State

The Department of State faces a number of significant performance and accountability

challenges as it strives to create a more secure, prosperous, and democratic world that

will benefit the American people at home and abroad. These challenges cover a wide

spectrum of U.S. government operations around the world. Some of these long-standing

challenges will take years to address. Complicating the successful achievement of its

objectives is that State must deal with the multiple and often competing intentions and

interests of other agencies, other governments, public opinion, and Congress as well as

the availability of resources.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of State.

12 Additional information about program and

management challenges at State and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. In recent years, State has had several serious lapses in internal security resulting in

the loss of top secret and higher level classified information. What steps do you

believe should be taken to improve security at the Department?

2. State has identified over 180 overseas facilities as being vulnerable to terrorist attack

and has indicated that about $15 billion is needed to replace its vulnerable facilities.

In addition, the Department has extensive building maintenance needs throughout

the world that have been identified by the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel. What

are your views on how quickly we can expect substantial progress?

3. Presently, over 50,000 American, foreign service national, and contract employees

work at U.S. facilities. A key challenge directly linked to the overseas security threat

and the cost of overseas operations is the U.S. overseas presence. How do you think

the U.S. overseas presence should be modified to address security, operational,

and/or foreign policy interests? Do you think there are opportunities to reduce

overseas staffing at some posts to reduce costs and security vulnerabilities?

 12 GAO-01-252, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Improve the security and maintenance of U.S. facilities overseas

• Help decrease the level of illegal drugs entering the United States

• Address the threats illegal immigration continues to pose to Americans at home

• Address additional challenges to building a high-performing organization
Enclosure XI Enclosure XI

27 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

4. State issues several million visa applications annually and a number of consular posts

are overwhelmed by the volume of applicants. Moreover, the process has been

vulnerable to fraud and weak controls. What are your views about how to improve

the visa process in a way that protects both U.S. and applicants’ interests?

5. A recent study by the Stimson Center on management of foreign affairs made farreaching recommendations concerning government reforms, embassy restructuring,

information technology, and accessing the private sector. For example, the study

recommended the establishment of a single foreign service and changes in the federal

budget process in foreign affairs. Could you outline your views on the study’s

recommendations, and what it might take to implement them?

6. What are your views of the effectiveness of the “up or out” philosophy in the foreign

service as a human capital approach?

Point of Contact:

Susan S. Westin

Telephone: (202) 512-4128

E-mail: westins@gao.gov
Enclosure XII Enclosure XII

28 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation (DOT) faces critical challenges in achieving its goals

of ensuring the safe and efficient movement of people and goods and in making costeffective investments in the nation’s transportation infrastructure, including its

highways, transit systems, airports, railways, ports, and waterways. Although DOT has

achieved many successes in improving the nation’s transportation systems, major

challenges remain. Many of these challenges are long-standing and will require sustained

attention by DOT and Congress.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Transportation.

13 Additional information about

program and management challenges at DOT and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. While DOT has identified safety of the nation’s transportation system as its top

priority, its performance has been lackluster. The goals DOT set for reducing

aviation accidents and incidents have not been met, the number of annual truck

accidents has failed to decrease, and the number of pipeline accidents has increased.

What steps would you direct DOT to take to deliver results in improving

transportation safety?

2. GAO reports have shown that DOT has struggled to implement and oversee security

services in aviation. For example, security screeners at airports have had difficulty

detecting dangerous objects, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not

followed its security procedures to protect the integrity of its air traffic control

systems. What changes are needed at DOT to guarantee the security of the nation’s

air travelers?

 13 GAO-01-253, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Improve the safety and security of air, highway, and pipeline transportation

• Enhance the management of aviation and Coast Guard acquisitions and obsolete

ship disposal to maximize investment of public funds

• Increase the accountability for financial management activities

• Improve the oversight of highway and transit projects to provide maximum

transportation services for the federal dollars invested

• Strengthen the financial condition of Amtrak

• Enhance competition and consumer protection in aviation and freight rail industries

to ensure reasonable fares, rates, and service
Enclosure XII Enclosure XII

29 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. GAO has designated FAA’s effort to modernize its air traffic control system as a highrisk information technology initiative since 1995 because of its size, cost, complexity,

and history of problems. This program, expected to cost $45 billion by the time it is

finished, has generally been behind schedule and over budget. Yet, modernizing the

air traffic control system is central to improving the capacity and operations of the

nation’s air travel and fostering aviation safety. What are the first actions you would

take to turn this program around?

4. GAO characterized financial management at the FAA as a high-risk program

beginning in 1999 because of long-standing accounting and financial management

problems. FAA lacks adequate systems and procedures to report its costs or to

account for its property and equipment. As a result, FAA lacks the information it

needs, for example, to allocate resources within the agency. GAO also found DOT as

a whole suffered from some of the same problems. What efforts are needed to assure

that DOT, and in particular FAA, deliver on their efforts to improve their financial

management systems?

5. Besides its project to modernize the air traffic control system, DOT acquires and

manages other significant and costly assets. For example, the Coast Guard is

planning to replace all of its ships and aircraft, at a potential cost of $10 billion over

20 years, and to request funds for the project before completing its plans. GAO has

expressed concern over the management controls for this project and the unique and

potentially risky approach to contracting for procurement of the equipment. For this

and other large capital acquisitions, how can DOT avoid the problems of cost

overruns and delays that have characterized projects such as modernization of the air

traffic control system?

6. As a provider of billions of dollars worth of highway and transit funding to states and

cities, DOT has the responsibility to oversee the projects to ensure that they meet

standards and the money is spent efficiently. While DOT once focused primarily on

getting the funds out to cities and states, it has improved its oversight of highway and

transit projects in recent years. However, these projects remain at risk for falling

behind schedule and exceeding their budgets. What do you plan to do to improve

oversight of large highway and transit projects to prevent these problems, and what,

if any, additional requirements should be placed on states and localities to facilitate

timely and efficient completion of these projects?

7. Even though the federal government has provided Amtrak with over $23 billion in

operating and capital assistance since 1971, the railroad loses almost $1 billion a year.

Given how costly this program is, what do you see as the future federal role in

intercity passenger rail?

Point of Contact:

John H. Anderson, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-2834

E-mail: andersonj@gao.gov
Enclosure XIII Enclosure XIII

30 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury faces a variety of program and management challenges

that affect the successful execution of its broad and complex responsibilities. Although

Treasury has made progress in addressing these challenges, several of them are longstanding and will require the Department’s continued attention to be successfully

addressed.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Treasury.

14 Additional information about program

and management challenges at Treasury and other federal agencies is available on GAO’s

Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Until the last few years, Treasury had historically played a limited role in overseeing

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, after reports that IRS had wasted

billions of dollars in attempting to modernize its information systems, Treasury

became more actively involved in overseeing IRS operations. In a June 1997

executive order, the President established a permanent oversight board to assist the

Treasury Secretary in ensuring effective management of the IRS, including reviewing

its strategic decisions to modernize. The board is chaired by the Deputy Secretary of

Treasury. About a year after the President established this board, Congress passed

the IRS Reform and Restructuring Act that created an independent nine-member

oversight board, which includes the Secretary of Treasury and the Commissioner of

Internal Revenue. This oversight board is to oversee the IRS’ administration,

management, conduct, direction, and supervision of the execution and application of

the tax laws. In your view, what is the most appropriate approach for overseeing

IRS?

 14 GAO-01-254, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Modernize the Internal Revenue Service to better help taxpayers meet their tax

responsibilities and to increase overall compliance with tax laws

• Improve the U.S. Customs Service's regulation of commercial trade while ensuring

that it protects against the entry of illegal goods at U.S. borders

• Achieve sound financial management through significant management attention and

priority

• Improve the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' performance measures to

better determine its progress in reducing criminals' access to firearms

• Improve the management of Treasury's asset forfeiture program
Enclosure XIII Enclosure XIII

31 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

2. Based on your experience, what are some of the likely pitfalls that IRS may encounter

as its seeks to implement its major modernization effort that encompasses changes to

its organizational structure, business practices, performance management and

information technology? What lessons can you share from your experience that may

be applicable to IRS’ modernization effort?

3. The Departments of Justice and the Treasury continue to operate two similar but

separate seized asset management and disposal programs. Currently, the

Departments are studying their programs' functions and processes to identify areas of

duplication and to assess opportunities for efficiency gains through shared resources

and activities. How would you ensure that identified opportunities for efficiency

gains are fully integrated into each program's functions and processes?

4. With the passage in 1993 of the Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance

Act, or Mod Act, Customs began to focus on informed compliance with trade laws

rather than the enforced compliance emphasis of the past. In recent years, however,

compliance rates used to measure the effectiveness of the informed compliance

strategy have showed no measurable improvement. In late 1999, GAO recommended

that Customs develop and implement an evaluation of the effectiveness of its

informed compliance strategy. What is the status of the evaluation, and how do you

propose to see that the informed compliance strategy effectively ensures that

merchandise and persons entering and exiting the United States do so in compliance

with U.S. laws and regulations?

5. For several years, concerns have been expressed about the Customs' process for

determining the need for inspectors and other personnel to process commercial

cargo or land and sea passengers at all of its 301 ports of entry around the country.

Customs is developing a resource allocation model that is intended to estimate the

number of inspectors and other personnel needed to process passengers and inspect

cargo at the ports of entry. How do you plan to use it to ensure that Customs has the

proper number and mix of inspectors and other personnel at its ports of entry to

efficiently and effectively process passengers and cargo?

6. A key to Treasury’s ability to effectively carry out its mission both at the Department

level and as fiscal agent for the U.S. government is sound financial management,

including preparing information about the government’s finances that is routinely

available, accurate, and reliable. Treasury continues to face many challenges in its

ongoing efforts to improve the accuracy and reliability of its financial and

information management systems and correct internal control weaknesses. For

example, financial management at the IRS has been on GAO’s high-risk list since

1995. Also, the financial management systems at several of Treasury’s bureaus do not

meet federal financial management systems requirements and cannot provide reliable

financial information for managing day-to-day operations and holding managers

accountable. What will you do to help Treasury and its agencies and bureaus

implement effective financial management systems throughout the agency to improve

accountability?
Enclosure XIII Enclosure XIII

32 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

7. As the federal government’s central debt collection agency, Treasury provides debt

management services to federal agencies for nontax debt over 180 days delinquent

owed to the federal government. According to Treasury, this debt totaled about $59.2

billion as of September 30, 1999. Treasury and other federal agencies face challenges

in fully implementing the provisions of the Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA).

How do you propose to provide management leadership to Treasury as it works

toward fully implementing the provisions of DCIA on a phased-in basis over the next

few years?

8. In June 2000, GAO reported that it is difficult to determine the Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms’ (ATF) progress in enforcing federal laws and regulations

relating to firearms and firearms-related violent crimes. ATF’s performance

measures are generally output rather than outcome measures. What progress has

ATF made toward developing outcome measures as recommended by GAO?

Point of Contact:

Norm Rabkin

Telephone: (202) 512-9110

E-mail: rabkinn@gao.gov
Enclosure XIV Enclosure XIV

33 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that in fiscal year 2000 it spent more

than 80 percent of its total budget—about $42 billion—to provide health care services to

3.6 million veterans and to pay disability compensation and pensions to more than 2.5

million veterans and their families and survivors. Although VA has achieved, through the

Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans’ Benefits Administration (VBA),

many successes in providing health care and benefits to veterans and other beneficiaries,

major program and management challenges remain.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Department of Veterans Affairs.

15 Additional information about

program and management challenges at VA and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Five years ago, VA embarked on a historic initiative to improve veteran access to care

by establishing over 300 community-based clinics. However, it is difficult for

Congress and others to gauge VA’s progress because it has not developed clear goals

and strategies to guide this initiative. It remains unclear, for example, what

percentage of veterans continue to experience unreasonable travel times to VA

medical facilities, where and when clinics will be opened, and how successful VA’s

initiative has been in achieving equity of access for veterans systemwide. What is

your assessment of VA’s strategic planning for major initiatives, such as expanding

community-based clinics, and what steps would you take to achieve timely and

effective implementation of major initiatives?

2. Two years ago, VA announced that Hepatitis C infection was a serious national

problem and launched a major initiative to screen its 4.7 million enrolled veterans for

Hepatitis C and provide medical care as appropriate. Last year, congressional

hearings indicated that, despite $580 million in appropriations, VA’s progress on this

initiative might be slow. Some feel that headquarters’ inability to get network

directors “on board” is a major factor contributing to this slowness. Top managers’

 15 GAO-01-255, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Ensure timely and equitable access to quality VA health care

• Maximize VA’s ability to provide health care within available resources

• Process veterans’ disability claims promptly and accurately

• Develop sound agencywide management strategies to build a high-performing

organization
Enclosure XIV Enclosure XIV

34 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

establishing clear policies and then struggling to get them effectively implemented at

the network and local facility levels seems to be a recurring theme within VA. What

is your assessment of the pros and cons of VA’s decentralized management structure?

3. Recent changes in the way VA delivers health care, the changing demographics of the

veteran population, and aging facilities indicate that VA’s Capital Asset Realignment

for Enhanced Services effort warrants priority. For example, many VA facilities are

over 50 years old and require substantial investments to ensure they meet building

code and safety requirements; others are underused or inappropriately configured

due to VA shifting its emphasis from providing specialized inpatient services to

providing primary care in outpatient settings. Moreover, the population of veterans is

expected to decrease significantly over the next 20 years. Maintaining unproductive

assets siphons financial resources away from providing enhanced medical services

for all veterans. In confronting this challenge, how would you address the critical

management decisions about whether and how to maintain, renovate, liquidate, or

redirect the use of these facilities and grounds?

4. VA allocates funding to its 22 health care networks through an allocation system

called Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA). Reviews of this system have

generally concluded that it is more equitable than the incremental funding of facilities

that preceded it, although each review has also recommended changes to improve the

system. In particular, improvements may be needed to ensure that networks’

distribution of VERA resources to their facilities is equitable. Representatives of

veterans living in rural areas and in some of the networks losing resources continue

to have additional concerns about VERA. VA has made some changes to VERA and is

considering others. What are your views on how VA allocates resources for health

care, and what improvements would you anticipate making, if any?

5. As part of its effort to “restore the capability of disabled veterans to the greatest

extent possible and improve their quality of life,” the VBA provides over $20 billion a

year in disability compensation and pension benefits to more than 3 million veterans,

family members, and survivors. However, long-standing processing delays have

resulted in an increasing backlog of veterans’ initial and repeat claims for disability

compensation. Between fiscal years 1995 and 1999, the average time for processing

initial compensation claims jumped from 161 days to 205 days, and the average time

to resolve veterans’ appeals of VA’s claims decisions continued to exceed 2 years.

Recent enactment of the Veterans’ Claims Assistance Act of 2000 will further increase

workload as VBA readjudicates claims that were denied as not well grounded.

Moreover, concerns persist about the accuracy and consistency of decisions among

VA’s 57 regional offices. At the same time, the expected retirement of more than

1,100 experienced claims adjudicators by 2005 could exacerbate VBA’s claims

processing problems. What actions would you take to ensure that veterans will

receive timely, accurate, and consistent disability claims decisions, particularly in the

face of VBA’s human capital challenge?

6. The Congressional Commission on Service Members and Veterans Transition

Assistance reported in 1999 that VA’s and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) health
Enclosure XIV Enclosure XIV

35 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

care systems alike face the challenge of adapting to changing health care practices,

an evolving patient population, infrastructure built for another era, and increasing

health care costs in a time of severe budget pressures. While each system is unique,

with separate missions—and each is critical to the nation and its citizens—the

Commission concluded that neither system can sustain business as usual. The

Commission further concluded that, while significant efforts have been made to

establish a cooperative relationship between the two systems, VA and DOD must

move towards a true partnership if they are to continue to succeed. The Commission

recommended a closer partnership between VA’s and DOD’s health care purchasing

systems to realize the advantages of concentrated large-scale purchasing. With VA’s

and DOD’s health care operating budgets totaling an estimated $36 billion in fiscal

year 2000, what is your long-range vision of VA’s health care system and its

relationship to DOD’s health care system?

7. Since 1996, VA has spent an estimated $5 billion on information technology (IT)

initiatives to help realize its vision of providing seamless service to veterans and their

families. VA expects its IT expenditures to increase over the next 5 years from about

$1.5 billion in fiscal year 2001 to more than $2.1 billion by fiscal year 2005.

Information systems across the different components of VA are not integrated,

making data sharing difficult and inefficient. Yet VA has not yet implemented an

information technology architecture to achieve common standards to help alleviate

these problems. Moreover, the position of Chief Information Officer for the

Department—required by the Clinger-Cohen Act—remains vacant. What role do you

envision for information technology in achieving the Department’s “One VA” vision?

8. Serious computer security weaknesses may be placing financial and sensitive

information in VA's systems at risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse, fraudulent

use, improper disclosure, or destruction. What specifically do you intend to do to

ensure that computer security is improved and that sensitive information is

safeguarded?

9. VHA has invested over $260 million in its Decision Support System, but few of the

medical centers are making full use of the system. Given the importance of uniform

data across the VA health care system, what actions will you take to ensure that the

system is fully utilized?

Point of Contact:

Cynthia A. Bascetta

Telephone: (202) 512-7101

E-mail: bascettac@gao.gov
Enclosure XV Enclosure XV

36 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

U. S. Agency for International Development

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) faces challenges in human

capital management and performance measurement that could affect the efficiency and

effectiveness of its assistance programs, including its efforts to provide humanitarian

assistance in disaster situations; and programs in democracy, governance, and rule of

law. Although USAID has taken steps to address these issues, challenges remain.

Human capital management and performance measurement are long-standing issues and

will require sustained attention by USAID. The additional challenges that GAO has

identified as facing USAID are the agency’s long-standing efforts to develop and

implement an integrated information management system and improve its financial

management system.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Agency for International Development.

16 Additional information

about program and management challenges at USAID and other federal agencies is

available on GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. USAID is facing a number of challenges because of staffing reductions resulting from

severe budget cuts, increasing attrition due to retirements, and other human capital

issues that may affect the agency’s ability to effectively carry out its foreign

assistance activities. What has been your experience in dealing with human capital

issues, and what are your views on how the agency should address these issues?

2. USAID’s emphasis has shifted from managing basic human needs projects that

address such areas as hunger, illiteracy, and population pressures to being a contractmanagement and financing agency and must adapt its workforce accordingly. What

are your views on how the agency should ensure it has a workforce with the

appropriate skills? What has been your experience in determining the use of contract

personnel vs. direct hire personnel? Do you belief there is an optimal mix between

the two types of personnel? What are your views on how the agency should

determine the appropriate mix of U.S. hires vs. foreign national hires?

 16 GAO-01-256, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Human capital management issues impact USAID strategic objectives

• Better performance data could help USAID assess programs and allocate resources

• Additional challenges to building a high-performing organization
Enclosure XV Enclosure XV

37 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

3. USAID has had difficulties in identifying and collecting data that would enable it to

develop reliable performance measures and accurately report the results of its

programs. What are your views on the use of performance information to make

budget allocation and program decisions? What steps do you believe the agency

should take to provide empirically reliable assurance that its programs achieve their

program objectives and related targets?

4. USAID continues to face challenges in implementing an integrated information

management system and improving its financial management systems that affect its

ability to effectively manage its programs as well as ensure that it has adequate

internal controls. What has been your experience in implementing information

management and financial management systems? What are your views on the actions

the agency should take to ensure that it has timely and reliable information to make

effective, informed decisions, and that assets are safeguarded given the current

challenges?

Point of Contact:

Susan Westin

Telephone: (202) 512-4128

E-mail: westins@gao.gov
Enclosure XVI Enclosure XVI

38 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is confronted with several critical program

and management challenges in achieving its mission of protecting human health and

safeguarding the environment. Such challenges have impeded the agency’s multipronged

efforts to meet its goals in a cost-effective manner, and overcoming these challenges will

require the highest level of management attention and most certainly a long-term

commitment.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Environmental Protection Agency.

17 Additional information about

program and management challenges at EPA and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Recent work performed by GAO and EPA’s Office of the Inspector General has

demonstrated that EPA needs to strengthen access controls associated with its major

computer operating systems, enhance computer incident management efforts, and

improve security program management and planning. At the same time, these

organizations and others have stressed the need for EPA to improve its data

collection and integration to help manage environmental programs, suggesting the

need for investments in new systems. How will your experience help deal with

computer security problems? How would you assure yourself that public funds are

being invested wisely in information systems that will best help EPA achieve its

mission?

2. Most of EPA’s data are provided to the agency by its state partners, which collect the

data from regulated industries, from air and water quality monitors, and from other

sources. Large gaps in these data make it difficult for EPA to comprehensively assess

environmental conditions nationally and thus to measure and report on the results of

its efforts to achieve environmental goals. Yet efforts to collect more data are often

met with protests by states and regulated industries, citing costs and paperwork

burden. How would you balance these competing demands and find effective ways

to meet EPA’s needs for additional environmental data? How do you think that EPA

 17 GAO-01-257, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Improve environmental and performance information management to set

priorities and measure results

• Place greater emphasis on developing a comprehensive human capital approach

• Strengthen working relationships with the states
Enclosure XVI Enclosure XVI

39 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

can best assess environmental conditions and its performance against strategic goals

and objectives?

3. While EPA’s work force has grown by about 18 percent over the past decade, the

agency lacks a systematic means to determine the number, type, and organizational

location of people needed to accomplish its mission. EPA recently developed a

human capital strategy to address this and other human resource concerns, such as

the agency’s aging workforce. How can EPA meet the challenge of obtaining and

maintaining the right technical and scientific skills in view of the highly competitive

market for these kinds of skills? Do you believe that EPA’s highly decentralized

organizational structure is appropriate for the agency? If not, what changes do you

envision?

4. To an extent perhaps much greater than in other areas of national policy,

environmental protection depends heavily on a partnership between EPA and state

governments. Throughout its history, EPA has often had stormy relationships with

states in their dual effort to implement the nation's environmental laws. Based on

your experience, how would you improve partnerships with the states? Particularly,

will you continue to have EPA pursue its performance partnership arrangements

under the National Performance Partnership System? If so, what changes do you

envision for that system in particular?

5. Several years ago, the enforcement function at EPA was centralized into an Office of

Enforcement and Compliance Assistance. How well do you think this structure has

worked in helping EPA and the states to carry out their enforcement responsibilities?

Do you envision any reorganization of the enforcement function at EPA, either at

headquarters or among EPA's regional offices?

6. The federal government has spent about $20 billion to clean up hazardous waste sites

in the Superfund program. A majority of the sites in the program are in advanced

stages of cleanup—the cleanup remedies have been chosen, are under construction,

or are completed. A number of states have strong cleanup programs themselves and

have been taking on more of the hazardous waste cleanup workload, especially

through their state voluntary programs. How would you assess the future of the

Superfund program? To the extent that the federal program will diminish in the

future, how would you implement the transition, particularly in terms of funding

levels and organizational infrastructure?

7. Reports by GAO and others have shown that state voluntary cleanup programs have

been successful in addressing many of the less contaminated brownfield sites across

the country. However, fear of being held liable in the future to conduct a cleanup

under Superfund rules can discourage some parties from volunteering, limiting the

effectiveness of some state programs. How do you envision EPA’s better supporting

these programs and better coordinating its efforts with other federal agencies that

manage programs that also benefit brownfields, such as housing and economic

development programs?
Enclosure XVI Enclosure XVI

40 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

8. EPA has administratively established a national Superfund Ombudsman in

headquarters and a regional Ombudsman in each of its regional offices. These

officials are intended to ensure that the agency adequately addresses public concerns

at individual Superfund sites. Recently, allegations have been made that EPA gives

inadequate support to the ombudsmen. How do you view the role of the Superfund

Ombudsman? As a manager of the Superfund program, how would you ensure the

independence of the ombudsman?

Point of Contact:

Robert A. Robinson

Telephone: (202) 512-3841

E-mail: robinsonr@gao.gov
Enclosure XVII Enclosure XVII

41 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

is a tool Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has used to be more

responsive and to address its challenges. The challenges confronting FEMA affect public

accountability, disaster cost containment, and program effectiveness.

Additional information about program and management challenges at FEMA and other

federal agencies is available on GAO’s Transition Web site at

http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. There has been a growing concern in Congress about the costs of federal disaster

assistance. What ideas do you have as to how FEMA might constrain disaster relief

spending without placing unfair hardships on the victims?

2. FEMA has acknowledged that rising costs could be due in part to the state and local

governments increasingly turning to the federal government for assistance. FEMA

has also acknowledged that the current system of disaster relief tends to discourage

state and local governments from assuming primary responsibility for initiating

appropriate preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation measures before a

disaster strikes. What are your views on the current system?

3. GAO and FEMA’s Inspector General have issued a number of reports which outline

recommendations for reducing disaster relief cost, including raising the damage

threshold for replacing facilities and requiring adequate insurance for public

buildings. Are you familiar with these recommendations? If so, which specific

recommendations do you think merit further considerations to improve FEMA’s

management and operations?

4. Some have pointed out that the willingness of the federal government to step in and

provide substantial recovery assistance may actually be a disincentive to state, local,

and private readiness. What is your assessment of the capabilities of state and local

governments to respond to disasters?

5. What are your views on whether FEMA has an adequate system to assess state and

local response capabilities?

Program and Management Challenges

• Determine the cost-effectiveness of mitigation efforts

• Reduce the cost of disaster assistance

• Improve the financial condition of the National Flood Insurance Program fund
Enclosure XVII Enclosure XVII

42 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

6. Concerning disaster mitigation, GAO has testified that for a number of reasons, state

and local governments may be reluctant to take actions to mitigate natural hazards.

GAO cited, among other reasons, local sensitivity to such measures as building code

enforcement and land-use planning, conflict between hazard mitigation and

development goals, and the lack of an understanding of mitigation and political

support. How would you address these issues?

7. FEMA views its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program as the forerunner of a

comprehensive family of mitigation approaches. Under the program, projects are

required to be cost-effective, and a major component of the program is buyout

projects (i.e., property acquisitions). GAO reports and testimony have highlighted the

need for FEMA to provide analytical data supporting the cost-effectiveness of

buyouts. How will you ensure that these mitigation projects are cost-effective?

8. How will you address the need to improve the financial condition of the National

Flood Insurance Fund?

9. FEMA has lead responsibility for coordinating federal emergency management

efforts. The process consists of four phases: preparedness, response, recovery, and

mitigation. How would you characterize the interagency coordination?

10. FEMA also has lead responsibility for managing the consequences of domestic

terrorism-related emergencies. GAO has reported that domestic consequence

management exercises were not well developed and that terrorism-preparedness

training programs are sometimes duplicative and not well coordinated among the

various federal agencies with terrorism-preparedness responsibilities. What goals do

you have for improving FEMA's management of terrorism-related emergencies?

Point of Contact:

John H. Anderson, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-2834

E-mail: andersonj@gao.gov
Enclosure XVIII Enclosure XVIII

43 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

General Services Administration

The General Services Administration (GSA) is one of the federal government’s central

management agencies. GSA’s mission is to provide policy leadership and expert

solutions in acquiring services, space, and products at best value to enable federal

employees to accomplish their missions. GSA has undergone major reforms and

organizational changes in recent years in an attempt to be more responsive to federal

agencies’ needs and save the taxpayers money. Although GSA has overcome several

challenges to become more effective and efficient, other long-standing challenges

continue to exist. Some of these challenges have been identified by GAO, GSA

management, and the GSA Inspector General and impede GSA’s efforts to (1) effectively

acquire, preserve, and dispose of real property; (2) provide customer agencies with

choice and best value in acquiring goods and services; and (3) improve agencywide

performance.

Additional information about program and management challenges at GSA and other

federal agencies is available on GAO’s Transition Web site at

http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. GSA was established in 1949 to bring central direction to the federal government’s

real property and procurement functions. In your view, how well has GSA fulfilled its

mission and what is your vision for GSA’s future? What objectives would you like to

achieve during your tenure at GSA?

Program and Management Challenges

Real Property Management

• Obtain adequate funding to meet capital investment needs

• Resolve problems associated with aging and deteriorating federal buildings

• Protect buildings, federal employees, and the public from security threats

• Eliminate obstacles that impede effective real property disposal

• Work with the private sector to develop creative real property initiatives

Goods and Services Delivery

• Manage the multibillion-dollar FTS2001 telecommunications contract

• Respond to the changing technological demands of customer agencies

• Develop effective ways to provide goods and services

• Develop strategies to ensure secure information technology systems

Agencywide Performance

• Improve employee skills to respond to the changing demands of the 21st

century

• Establish accurate and useful management information systems

• Build a high-performing organization through results-oriented management
Enclosure XVIII Enclosure XVIII

44 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

2. In recent years, GSA has made a major commitment to reorganization and

reinvention—ending its long-standing monopolies, separating its policy and oversight

responsibilities from service delivery, revising its structure and improving how it

interfaces with agencies, and using private sector practices as benchmarks to reform

and assess its activities. What is your opinion of the progress GSA has made, and

how will you see to it that GSA sustains these efforts?

3. GSA’s Public Buildings Service (PBS) is the largest commercial-style real estate

organization in the nation. With resources of about $6 billion a year, PBS constructs,

leases, manages, maintains, and protects various types of federal real property assets.

However, PBS faces several challenges, including inadequate funding to meet capital

investment needs; aging and deteriorating buildings; and various obstacles that

impede effective real property acquisition, management, and disposal. How do you

plan to address these challenges? Are there innovative approaches used in the

private sector that you would like to see employed by PBS?

4. GSA has implemented a multimillion-dollar security upgrade effort for the 8,300

buildings it controls. GAO has reported on problems associated with this

implementation, such as unreliable data on upgrades and insufficient outcome

measures. GSA has taken action to correct most of these problems but will

nonetheless face a formidable challenge protecting its large inventory of diverse

properties. Given the importance of protecting federal employees and buildings, how

will you go about determining whether the enhancements in place are adequate and

have actually improved protection?

5. As a procurement agent for the federal government, GSA provides a wide range of

goods and services to agencies through its Federal Supply Service (FSS) and Federal

Technology Service (FTS). Through the supply schedules and other contract

arrangements, FSS and FTS have made an effort to be responsive to the diverse and

ever-changing demands of customer agencies. What steps will you take to ensure

that GSA adds value to the procurement process so that customer agencies can

successfully accomplish their missions at least cost to the taxpayer? What changes, if

any, would you make to the way GSA has approached procurement reform?

6. GSA has recognized the need to develop different employee skills to support its

strategic goals in a rapidly changing environment, in particular because of an aging

workforce whose average age is close to 50. In addition, in 1999, we reported that

FSS and FTS officials cited the inability to recruit and retain top-level staff as a

barrier that impeded their ability to operate in a businesslike manner. What will you

do to ensure that GSA has the human capital it will need to accomplish its mission?

7. GSA is working toward measuring its performance in response to the Government

Performance and Results Act (GPRA). GSA’s GPRA submissions—strategic plan,

performance plans, and performance reports—collectively provide a roadmap for

GSA’s efforts in its broad array of program and policy activities. GAO’s work in

recent years assessing GSA’s GPRA submissions has shown that GSA has made clear
Enclosure XVIII Enclosure XVIII

45 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

improvements in measuring its performance. Nonetheless, because of its diverse

array of activities and the complex and changing environment in which it operates,

building and sustaining a result-oriented organization will be an ongoing challenge for

GSA. How will you incorporate results management into your day-to-day leadership

of the agency?

Point of Contact:

John H. Anderson, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-2834

E-mail: andersonj@gao.gov
Enclosure XIX Enclosure XIX

46 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) faces challenges to achieve

its missions of space exploration and development, the advancement of scientific

knowledge, and research and development of aeronautic and space technologies. To

achieve those goals, NASA spends more than $12 billion annually for goods and

services—ranging from procurements of expensive space hardware to contracts for

research and development-related services. With most of those funds going to outside

contractors, businesses, and other organizations, it is exceedingly important that NASA

have good control and oversight over its procurement processes and dollars.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

18 Additional

information about program and management challenges at NASA and other federal

agencies is available on GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. GAO has reported that NASA needs an effective and efficient integrated financial

management system. Until this system is operational, NASA will not know the full

costs of some of its programs. In your view, can anything be done to accelerate

implementation of critical systems such as this one without increasing risks?

2. GAO has reported that NASA is continuing to rely on undefinitized change

orders—that is, contract changes initiating new work before NASA and the

contractor agree on a final estimated cost and fee—to complete work on its

largest space station contract. This way of doing business increases the potential

for unforeseen cost increases and scheduling delays. How would you limit its

use?

3. While we all applaud the recent successes associated with the space station, this

program has experienced frequent cost increases and schedule delays. With many

more years of development, assembly and operations ahead of us, how would you

 18 GAO-01-258, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Correcting weaknesses in contract management

• Controlling International Space Station development and support costs

• Effectively implementing the faster-better-cheaper approach to space exploration

projects

• Integrating human capital approach into NASA’s workforce management strategies
Enclosure XIX Enclosure XIX

47 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

introduce more discipline into the space station program to deliver benefits

promised to the taxpayers on time and within budget?

4. Congress imposed spending caps on the space station program. What is your

experience in successfully implementing large complex programs under strict

funding constraints? How will you apply this experience to benefit NASA?

5. In general, what are your views on the faster-better-cheaper philosophy and on

NASA’s implementation? What would you do differently to avoid failures like the

two recent Mars probes?

6. NASA-sponsored investigative boards of the failed Mars probes found that

opportunities to identify and resolve problems prior to launch were missed due to

poor communications, budget pressures, and poor management and engineering

practices. What steps would you take to find an effective way to capture and

disseminate lessons learned on an agencywide basis?

7. Human capital problems that NASA currently faces, including workforce

challenges (i.e. critical skill shortages and inadequate staffing levels), threaten the

safe operations of the shuttle program. Describe your experience dealing with

human capital issues. How can NASA guard against the loss of personnel with

critical skills? What overall actions would you take to improve the productivity,

efficiency, and effectiveness of NASA’s staff?

8. In its past annual performance plans, NASA has not adequately addressed human

capital management. How would you ensure that NASA’s 2002 performance plan

includes specific performance measures that will address the human capital

challenges associated with the shuttle and other programs across the agency?

9. NASA’s X-33 program promises to develop and demonstrate advanced

technologies needed for future reusable launch vehicles and significantly reduce

launch costs; thus the program is expected to play an important role in NASA’s

space transportation plans. Despite the fact that NASA made a large investment

in the X-33 program--almost one billion dollars--the program experienced a

setback due to an important operational test failure of the composite fuel tank.

What measures would you take to decide the program’s future? How would you

ensure the government’s best interests are being served in this joint government

and industry funded program?

Point of Contact:

Jack L. Brock, Jr.

Telephone: (202) 512-4841

E-mail: brockj@gao.gov
Enclosure XX Enclosure XX

48 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Office of Personnel Management

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the central management agency of the

federal government charged with administering and enforcing federal civil service laws,

regulations, and rules and aiding the President in carrying out his responsibilities for

managing the federal workforce. Now is a particularly challenging period for OPM, as

the federal government’s human capital problems are becoming increasingly urgent and

widely recognized. Faced with ever-increasing changes in the social, economic, and

technological environments, and with increasing numbers of federal employees eligible

to retire, federal agencies are challenged to maintain the human capital needed to meet

today’s needs and tomorrow’s emerging demands. OPM has taken numerous steps to

communicate to agencies the importance of aligning human capital with results and has

provided a number of tools and opportunities for information exchange to assist them.

Characterizing the most appropriate mission and role for OPM, and defining the most

effective tools and strategies for accomplishing its goals in a changing civil service, have

been long-standing issues facing the agency.

OPM’s role in federal human capital management is discussed in Office of Personnel

Management’s Fiscal Year 1999 Performance Report and Fiscal Year 2001 Performance

Plan.

19 Additional information about program and management challenges at OPM and

other federal agencies is available on GAO’s Transition Web site at

http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. GAO has recently identified strategic human capital management as a new

governmentwide high-risk area, saying that today’s federal human capital strategies

are not appropriately constituted to adequately meet current and emerging taxpayer

needs in the most effective, efficient, and economical manner possible. In doing so,

GAO not only acknowledged recent actions OPM has taken to foster a more resultsoriented approach to strategic human capital management across government, but

also stressed the important role it should continue to play in promoting human

capital improvements. What actions do you think OPM should take to improve

human capital management governmentwide?

2. During the 1990s, OPM was downsized, its budget was reduced, and--through

delegation and deregulation--its role and mission changed. With today’s continued

emphasis on human capital flexibilities, OPM’s role is likely to continue to evolve.

What do you see as OPM’s role in the future vis-à-vis agencies and their continuing

desires for flexibility in human capital management?

3. The increase in human capital flexibilities across the government raises the issue of

oversight of the merit system. What role do you see OPM playing in ensuring that

civil service laws and policies are complied with by agencies that, in many cases, are

 19GAO/GGD-00-156R, June 30, 2000.
Enclosure XX Enclosure XX

49 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

seeking more exemptions from those rules and regulations, and what mechanisms do

you envision using to hold agencies accountable?

4. As the chair of the National Partnership Council, OPM has the lead responsibility in

its successful implementation. What do you see as OPM’s future role in achieving the

goal of improved labor-management relations in the government?

5. Federal agencies, like other employers, are faced with balancing demands for mission

accomplishment and the fair treatment of their work force. Federal employees are

protected from inappropriate, arbitrary, and prohibited personnel practices, but the

government’s administrative redress system has long been criticized as being overly

complex, time consuming, costly, and adversarial. What role can OPM play in

improving this system and in helping agencies develop conflict management systems

that work to prevent as well as resolve workplace disputes?

6. About half of OPM’s staff administer benefit programs (primarily the federal

retirement programs), another quarter provide services to agencies on a reimbursable

basis, and the remainder perform work paid for through appropriated funds. OPM no

longer has the investigation and training functions that it used to have. In order to

more efficiently and effectively carry out its mission and accomplish the tasks OPM

has established as priorities, what, if any, need is there to reallocate resources within

OPM or to contract out additional programs or services?

7. GAO has noted that strategic human capital management is the "missing link" in the

federal statutory framework for results-oriented management. What legislative

changes, if any, do you believe are needed to improve the federal government's

human capital management?

Point of Contact:

Victor S. Rezendes

Telephone: (202) 512-6806

E-mail: rezendesv@gao.gov
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50 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Program and Management Challenges

• Continue to improve oversight of SBA’s lending partners to correct oversight

weaknesses

• Focus the 8(a) program on helping firms obtain contracts to increase

procurement opportunities

• Strengthen human capital, information technology, budget, and financial

management practices to help modernize SBA

• Streamline and automate disaster loan processing to improve timeliness

Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is responsible for aiding, counseling, assisting,

and protecting the interests of the nation’s small businesses and for helping businesses

and families recover from natural disasters. SBA is also a financial institution with

significant commitments and exposure. As of September 30, 2000, SBA’s total portfolio

was about $52 billion, including $45 billion in direct and guaranteed small business loans

and other guarantees and $7 billion in disaster loans. Since its inception, SBA has,

among other things, helped 1.1 million firms get small business loans and has approved

1.4 million disaster loans to individual homeowners, renters, and businesses of all sizes.

At the same time, SBA is confronting several major challenges that affect its ability to

efficiently deliver services. To its credit, SBA is taking steps to address these challenges.

However, many of SBA’s planned improvements hinge on its multimillion-dollar, threephase systems modernization effort. At this point, it is too early to tell whether the

systems modernization effort will help resolve SBA’s challenges.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Small Business Administration.

20 Additional information about

program and management challenges at SBA and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. GAO’s Performance and Accountability Series report on SBA identifies the agency’s

systems modernization effort as a common thread in solving other management

challenges at SBA. Systems modernization is key to SBA’s ability to manage its

programs and to have integrated budget, accounting and performance information.

How would you reinforce the commitment to systems modernization?

2. SBA’s need to oversee its lending partners has become more important over the last

decade as SBA has shifted more loan-making and servicing responsibilities to private

 20 GAO-01-260, Jan. 2001.
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51 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

sector lenders. We understand SBA has demonstrated a commitment to improve its

small business lender oversight program by beginning regular reviews of lenders,

creating an Office of Lender Oversight, and contracting with the Farm Credit

Administration for safety and soundness examinations of Small Business Lending

Companies. How do you plan to step up SBA progress in building this capability to

oversee its lenders?

3. SBA administers the 8(a) business development program, which is designed to assist

small disadvantaged businesses in obtaining federal contracts. GAO’s work shows

that in fiscal year 1998, 209 of the 6,000 firms in SBA’s 8(a) program received 50

percent of the 8(a) contract dollars, and over 3,000 firms did not receive any

contracts. What will SBA do to help more firms obtain contracts?

4. GAO has highlighted problems in SBA’s management of its human capital, citing the

lack of (1) a staffing model to project future staffing requirements, (2) succession

planning for its leadership, and (3) a plan for improving training for its employees.

Indications are that SBA has made progress through several initiatives to improve

leadership succession planning and training for its employees. What initiatives would

you take to improve SBA’s ability to project future staffing requirements?

Point of Contact:

Thomas J. McCool

Telephone: (202) 512-8678

E-mail: mccoolt@gao.gov
Enclosure XXII Enclosure XXII

52 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration (SSA) faces critical challenges in achieving its

mission of promoting the economic security of the nation’s people by shaping and

managing America’s Social Security programs. In 1999, SSA paid out over $400 billion in

Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Supplemental

Security Income (SSI). Demand for these benefits is expected to grow over the coming

years as the baby-boom generation ages and the life expectancy of Americans continues

to lengthen. The source of expenditures for OASI and DI—the Social Security Trust

Funds—is expected to be depleted by 2037. At that time, it is estimated that annual tax

revenues will cover only 72 percent of the benefit obligations. In addition to the

solvency issue, SSA faces additional challenges that will continue to strain agency

operations and affect its ability to administer its programs.

The challenges are listed below and are discussed in more detail in the GAO

Performance and Accountability Series report entitled Major Management Challenges

and Program Risks: Social Security Administration.

21 Additional information about

program and management challenges at SSA and other federal agencies is available on

GAO’s Transition Web site at http://www.gao.gov/transition.

Potential Questions

1. Through its three main programs—OASI, DI, and SSI—SSA touches the lives of

virtually every American family. The position of Commissioner for this wide-reaching

agency is for a fixed term. At the end of that term, what would you like to have

accomplished? What are your top three priorities for the agency?

2. As the nation’s expert on Social Security issues, SSA is uniquely positioned to

conduct research and analysis to help identify areas where policy changes,

sometimes controversial ones, are needed. One example is the need to improve the

long-term solvency of the Social Security trust funds and sustainability of the Social

Security programs. In your opinion, what role should SSA play in public policy

debates on Social Security? How do you intend to work with Congress and other

 21 GAO-01-261, Jan. 2001.

Program and Management Challenges

• Play an active research, evaluation, and policy development role

• Improve SSA's disability determination process and return people to work

• Sustain management and oversight of long-standing, high-risk Supplemental

Security Income issues

• Better position SSA for future service delivery challenges

• Further strengthen controls to protect SSA information
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53 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

decisionmakers on this issue? What steps would you take to ensure that SSA is at the

forefront of important Social Security-related research?

3. Making timely and accurate disability determinations is one of SSA’s most difficult

service delivery challenges. Even after years of trying to redesign the process, many

applicants still have to wait more than a year for a final decision. Additionally,

concerns have been raised about the accuracy and consistency of disability decisions

throughout the lengthy disability determination process. What actions would you

take to reduce processing times and increase the accuracy of disability

determinations? What actions need to be taken to ensure that SSA has people with

the right kind of skills and knowledge handling a diverse range of disability issues

(e.g., claims, appeals, and reviews)?

4. In addition to redesigning this process, SSA has recently begun to focus more

attention on return-to-work efforts for current beneficiaries. However, these two

efforts have not been integrated to ensure that a needed earlier focus on return-towork is incorporated into the redesigned determination process. What would you do

to address this and how would you hold the agency accountable to ensure that these

two efforts are integrated?

5. GAO designated SSI a high-risk program because of SSA’s insufficient management

oversight and the program’s susceptibility to fraud, waste, and abuse. How will you

improve the management and oversight of this program to ensure that only those

eligible for SSI cash assistance receive it?

6. SSA has long been considered a leader in service delivery. How will you ensure that

this level of service continues, given the expected dramatic increase in the demand

for service as the baby boom generation ages?

7. SSA’s own workforce is aging. Half of its 63,000 employees will be eligible for

retirement before 2010. Moreover, the mix of needed staff skills is changing; staff will

need more technical and advanced skills in the future. How will you ensure that

investments in SSA’s human capital will fully support its future approach to service

delivery?

8. SSA plans to rely extensively on information technology to help it achieve processing

efficiencies and improved customer service. However, the agency has had mixed

success with these efforts in the past. Given the future challenges that SSA faces,

how do you plan to invest in information technology to provide the agency with the

tools and support it needs to cope with these challenges?
Enclosure XXII Enclosure XXII

54 GAO-01-332R Potential Questions for Nominees

9. A recent audit by an independent public accounting firm noted that SSA continues to

have problems ensuring that unauthorized access to sensitive SSA information will

not occur. What steps do you plan to take to safeguard SSA information and address

the internal control weaknesses identified by the audit?

Point of Contact:

Cynthia M. Fagnoni

Telephone: (202) 512-7215

E-mail: fagnonic@gao.gov

(450017)