Priorities

Senator Warner pressed the incoming White House budget director today to move more aggressively to reduce duplication and overlap in federal programs. At today’s Senate Budget Committee confirmation hearing for OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Senator Warner criticized the Administration for moving too slowly to implement reforms to strengthen transparency and accountability and save tax dollars. Senator Warner was a lead author of the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, which the President signed into law in 2010.

Just yesterday, a government audit criticized a lack of coordination among duplicative or overlapping federal programs. It found 76 drug abuse prevention and treatment programs, and nearly half said they rarely, if ever, coordinated efforts with similar programs. Senator Warner says we need a more collaborative culture in the federal government, and the silos must be broken down.