Poor communication from new leaders hindering State Dept.’s management reforms

Federal Drive

Poor communication from new leaders hindering State Dept.’s management reforms

Out of 17 management reforms the State Department outlined to Congress last February, only one has been accomplished.

August 7, 2019 11:57 am

< a min read

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Federal employees are used to seeing political appointees come and go, and they’re used to responding to changing priorities. But it helps if those priorities are clearly communicated. That didn’t happen during the leadership changeover at the top of the State Department, and the Government Accountability Office said it’s one big reason State has made relatively little progress on its agency reform plans. Out of 17 management reforms the department outlined to Congress last February, only one has been accomplished. Jason Bair is acting director for International Affairs and Trade Issues at GAO. He talked with Jared Serbu about what State can do to speed things along on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.