While managers within the bureaucracy are committed to GPRA, Wye questioned the administration's dedication. The President hasn't really taken hold of it. The Vice President hasn't taken hold of it. But only a handful of OMB budget examiners are actively involved in the GPRA process, he said. Eventually, the administration hopes agencies will tie their budget requests to expected results.
Some agencies already do that.
The Patent and Trademark Office, for example, can tell Congress each year how many patent and trademark applications it can process with various funding levels. Groszyk said agencies are have not yet perfected the process of linking resources to performance goals, largely because they lack the ability to put a price on what they do. One way to tie the amount of funding agencies receive to the services they provide is by allowing them to charge user fees.