The Department of Homeland Security has continued to make “huge steps” in its management reform efforts, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Feb. 24.
Johnson highlighted a recent Government Accountability Office report showing the agency had fully addressed nine out of 30 risk areas and has made significant progress in addressing the remaining 21 areas.
DHS has been on the GAO’s “High Risk” list of programs every year since the agency was created in 2003, but DHS is rapidly becoming the gold standard for agency management, Johnson said. In its Feb. 11 report, GAO stated the agency was a “model” for how federal agencies should address high-risk areas.
“I appreciate the strong working relationship with our colleagues at GAO. I also appreciate and salute Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and our management directorate for the time and effort they have invested in our management reform efforts. Our good work must and will continue,”Johnson said.
GAO credits recent DHS success with the commitment its senior leaders have shown to solving problems and the creation of an agencywide plan to create measurable and sustained progress.
DHS was also able to prioritize various management reform efforts in fields such as acquisition and IT project management as well as create the tools needed to monitor progress in these areas, according to GAO.
Johnson said at an event Jan. 29 that improving agency operations was a “new year’s resolution” for senior leadership at DHS and that the agency was “heading in the right direction.”
Other DHS efforts include improving morale, making sure senior leadership posts are filled, and improving DHS responsiveness to congressional requests and inquiries, according to Johnson said.
“DHS is one of 16 departments and agencies on GAO’s so-called ‘High Risk List.’ We are on a path to get off that list soon,” Johnson said at the event.
