{"id":17419,"date":"2021-01-07T01:03:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T01:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/07\/defense-department-reform-office-shuts-down\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:38:26","slug":"defense-department-reform-office-shuts-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2021\/01\/07\/defense-department-reform-office-shuts-down\/","title":{"rendered":"US Defense Department\u2019s reform office shuts down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 With Congress overriding President Donald Trump\u2019s veto<\/a> of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon\u2019s chief management officer job has officially been eliminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the NDAA language calls for the roles and responsibilities of the office to be divested to other parts of the defense department over the next year, the CMO role itself was eliminated immediately when the NDAA became law over the weekend, confirmed Lisa Hershman, the CMO, to Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hershman, an industry executive<\/a> who entered the Pentagon early in the Trump administration, will be staying on as a senior advisor to acting secretary of defense Chris Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision to eliminate the CMO\u2019s office came roughly four years<\/a> after lawmakers created the role and made it third-in-line at the department, with the goal of having a single point person for reform efforts inside the world\u2019s largest bureaucracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of Congress had questioned whether the office was successful during its run, with a Defense Business Board report<\/a> from May recommending the office be shut down and reform efforts spread throughout the department\u2019s offices; ultimately, that suggestion was taken up by congress during the NDAA negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a December interview with Defense News, Hershman slammed the decision to shut down her office as a mistake, adding that \u201cCongress has given no justification for eliminating the CMO\u2026 I\u2019ve never been asked by either the House or the Senate, any subcommittee to make any kind of testimony on the facts. They need to answer to this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t