Washington, DC - This week, in the midst of our efforts to convince Congress to enact a clean, full-year appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, I am pleased to report another huge step forward in our management reform efforts. As I stated in my January 29th speech at the Wilson Center, management reform is one of my New Year’s resolutions for this Department. 

DHS is one of 16 departments and agencies of government on GAO’s “High Risk” list. We have been on that list since DHS was created in 2003, simply by virtue of the large realignment of government it took to create the Department. In its most recent report to Congress on February 11, GAO once again noted DHS’s good progress toward getting off the list. Specifically, GAO noted that since its last report in 2013, DHS has “fully addressed” 9 of 30 risk areas, and has made significant progress toward addressing the remaining 21. Overall, GAO has stated that DHS is a “model” for how federal agencies can work to address GAO’s high risk designations. 

GAO also stated:

“DHS’s top leadership, including the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (who assumed leadership of the department after our 2013 update), have continued to demonstrate exemplary commitment and support for addressing the department’s management challenges. For instance, the department’s Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Management, and other senior management officials have frequently met with us to discuss the department’s plans and progress, which helps ensure a common understanding of the remaining work needed to address our high-risk designation.”

I appreciate the strong working relationship with our colleagues at GAO. I also appreciate and salute Deputy Secretary 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.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.