ASMC visits: The Office of Management and Budget.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is one of several agencies within the Executive Office of the President. Sister agencies include the National Security Council, Council of Economic Advisors, Office of Policy Development, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

For federal government financial managers, the OMB represents the pinnacle, since this is where it all comes together. Among other things, the OMB puts together the annual President's budget request to the Congress, the document on which federal programs and agencies thrive or die.

A relatively small agency of just over 500 people, the OMB is located near the White House in the New Executive Office Building (NEOB) in downtown Washington, D.C. For a small agency, the OMB has both a monumental workload and several critical missions. It prepares options, analyses, and recommendations on budget policy and legislation for presentation to the President. It prepares the President's budget, approximately a 40-pound hard-copy document delivered to the Hill each February just after the President's State of the Union message.

The agency formulates and negotiates the Administration's position on legislative and congressional action and acts as a clearinghouse for all Executive Branch legislative proposals. Further, it adjudicates budget disputes among agencies and reviews and coordinates regulations, acquisition policies, and Executive Orders. Finally, it defines the management and performance agenda for the federal government.

Every product that the OMB releases must be virtually perfect, both in legal language and in numerical accuracy. The OMB seeks perfection as the minimum standard for work produced.

The OMB is organized into four major operating components called Resource Management Offices (RMOs). They include Natural Resource Programs, Human Resource Programs, General Government Programs, and National Security Programs, the latter of which includes an International Affairs Division (State/USIA Branch and Economic Affairs Branch) and the National Security Division (the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs).

The four RMOs are supported by a number of OMB-wide support offices, one being the Budget Review Office, which is responsible for overall review, analysis, and budget concepts--in other words, coordinating and integrating the work of the four RMOs.

Each fiscal year, in the September/ October timeframe, OMB analysts review agency budget submissions for pricing issues, program consistency, and appropriateness of submissions. For the DoD, this review is done in conjunction with analysts from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), who issue a series of OSD Program Budget Decisions.

In November, the OMB Director reviews the adjusted submissions, makes top-line decisions (for example, how much each agency will be allowed to request) and, through a process known as passbacks, returns the submissions to each agency. At about this same time, work on the OMB staff increases exponentially, and the agency seeks help from other federal agencies in the form of detailees borrowed for 90 days. Each year, approximately 15 people are chosen for these positions.

It was to discuss the detailee process and its potential benefits to Defense financial management careerists that Ms. Vickie Smith (CDFM 

and long-time ASMC member), and I headed to the NEOB on 17th Street in Washington, D.C. Vickie had served on a detail the year before and looked forward to a reunion with her former colleagues. She had also been one of the detailees to carry the President's budget to the Hill and had appeared on national television doing so.

Vickie had scheduled us to interview her former supervisor, Ms. Arline Dell, OMB management and budget analyst and director of one of the OMB-wide support offices. Her team produces the Appendix, Budget of the United States Government for each fiscal year; Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government for each fiscal year; Object Class Analysis; and a most interesting report titled Balances of Budget Authority, a document produced primarily for the legislative branch.

Arline joined the White House staff in 1985 as a computer specialist and moved to the OMB four years later primarily to create expert systems. These were systems designed to capture the experience and know-how of senior retiring staff members so that their knowledge would not be lost upon their departure.

Arline, who described herself as a jack of all trades, obviously is enthusiastic and loves her work despite the great demands and challenges. I noted (and asked about) a small hint of New England accent in her speech. "Marblehead, Massachusetts," she said.

We began by discussing the 90- day details. "We need people who are able to spot discrepancies and work through them with the RMO staffs and the agencies. This takes good, sharp individuals who realize that the work will be intense and that they can only expect one day off (Christmas) during the 90 days," Arline advised.

"On the other hand, the rewards are great; the detailees get to see the federal government in operation at the highest levels and [to see] how the executive and legislative branches interact. They get a good handle on the process and are treated just like any OMB staff member.

"At the beginning of the assignment they get a week's training and get to meet the OMB Director; then they plunge into full-time work, which may be day and night. Detailees are given the same information at daily staff briefings as full-timers and are expected to keep it all confidential--no leaks!"

When asked the major sources of detailees, Arline replied, "We get a number of Presidential Management Interns, and we usually get a good number from the executive development programs run by the Department of Agriculture Graduate School, as well as from the Navy Financial Management Intern Program, but we will take persons from anywhere in the nation, as long as their offices agree to financially support them during the detail."

In response to my request for information on the interview process, she replied, "The first question I always ask is, 'Given the great demands on your time, why do you want to work here?' If the answer is satisfactory, I then ask about computer skills. For at least some of this work, you need in-depth spreadsheet knowledge. We have also noticed, over time, that people with master's degrees do better with the quality of work demanded here. Those who are interested in remaining with OMB will have a leg up in the hiring process, because we have had a chance to take a look at their skills and abilities already." Proudly she added, "I believe this is the best detail in the federal government."

We then looked at some of the documents that Arline's team produces. The Appendix alone is staggering in size and complexity, resembling in size the telephone book of a major city. It is the key to the President's budget because it tells the user exactly where to find each line item. It also is cross-referenced so that people can find an item by following a variety of logical steps. We then looked at the Analytical Perspectives volume, and I began fully to appreciate what these people accomplish each year.

The size and the complexity of the job are daunting, to say the least.

With the interview ended, Vickie and I walked down polished white corridors to the White House Athletic Center (WHAC), also located in the NEOB. Members of the OMB staff, White House staff, and Secret Service use this center to stay in shape. We saw many of Vickie's former coworkers along the way, all with cheery greetings. When we get to the WHAC, no one was working out. They were all too busy! I purchased a WHAC baseball hat and left the building looking like a tourist.

I came away from the visit with two impressions. On one hand, the OMB offers a superb opportunity for any careerist to delve into the top levels of our government, make a contribution at the national level, and gain knowledge that will last a lifetime--and maybe even open new career opportunities.

On the other hand, these people don't fool around. They don't have time for it, and any person who is selected will have to work harder and better than he or she ever has worked before.

So now the questions: Are you interested? Do you have what it takes? If so ... go for it!

Been There, Done That--and Loved Every Minute!

by Vickie Smith, CDFM

Let me share with you the experiences of my detail assignment with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, during the fiscal year 2004 budget season (December 2002 to February 2003), as we prepared the President's budget for submission to the Congress.

This experience rates as one of the best--ever!--in my 21-year career.

As a non-practicing budget analyst, I say this because I am currently, and have been for a long time, intimately involved with the budget process only as a functional expert for the development of financial management systems. Since I've functioned more as a financial systems analyst or as a unit cost analyst, I saw this opportunity as a way to get back to my roots.

As far as the OMB is concerned, the nomination process is neither complex nor difficult. The OMB requires the submission of a resume and a nomination letter signed by one's supervisor. (The submission timeline is short-lived and the paperwork is needed in September.) The OMB folks also perform a background investigation so that detailees are able to gain access to the New and Old Executive Office Buildings--nothing too invasive.

The interview process (conducted in October) is very informal because the managers at OMB are trying to get a sense not of your budget or financial management expertise but of your ability to "work and play well with others."

Interviewers will ask questions about how to deal with things like short suspense and critical timelines. If you have read any book on how to deal with difficult people and taken anything to heart, you will be on the right track. Members of the OMB staff are surprisingly positive and doggedly focused; therefore, they are looking for similar qualities in each nominee. They are interested in self-starters and individuals who are able to motivate others to get things done.

The selection (done in November) is a mystery to me. My interview-mate (nominees are interviewed in pairs) was not selected, even though I felt very intimidated by his knowledgeable responses during our interview. He was all business and very serious. Sometimes, he would answer a question first and sometimes I would. It was a very interesting dynamic. I really felt like I had "bombed." Later, in my conversations with colleagues as we began to work together, I discovered that there had been other similar situations and experiences.

The OMB, however, takes the interview process very seriously. The process includes a "pane" of OMB managers (your future team leaders) who come and go, asking questions and easing our nervousness by making jokes before leaving. E-mails or phone messages update interviewees on the status of the selection process. And then one day some will get the call saying, "You've been selected!"

The work is long and hard but the rewards are many, and the people are some of the best I have ever worked with--anywhere. The management style of the OMB leadership was exemplary, from (former) Director Mitch Daniels to the team leaders, like Ms. Arline Dell, Mr. Darryl Park, and Ms. Bing Bradshaw. These individuals, as well as many of the permanent staff, have been working at the OMB (many in the same jobs) for 20 or 30 years and love it. Many have had other offers for flashier jobs with higher pay and shorter work hours, but did not take them.

As a budget-season detailee (detainee, as we lovingly liked to call ourselves--or Guantanamo North, because one might feel that due to the long workday and workweek they were held captive to), responsibilities might include balancing budget schedules with Treasury Department records, reviewing the Analytical Perspectives, editing and cross-referencing the Appendix to the United States Budget (a big job), updating and balancing the Object Class Codes, balancing budget authority obligations, identifying and/or "resolving" Antideficiency Act violations, or reconciling budget inconsistencies in the Schedule J (Status of Funds) of Federal and Trust Funds.

Because the detailee program has a long and distinguished history, the OMB has program execution down to a science. As a detailee, you are offered a great deal of latitude and flexibility. The primary reason I was selected (so they tell me) was that I somehow convinced them that I was flexible, agile, and able to overcome difficult people and situations. As it turned out, the work, though challenging, was stimulating and invigorating and, surprisingly, fun.

If you'd like further information, please contact me at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail]/.

RELATED ARTICLE: On being there.

(Vickie Smith comments on some points of interest and highlights of her detail assignment at OBM.)

The detail assignment begins the first week of December and ends in mid- to late February. The OMB usually announces the specifics of the detailee program in the fall on its Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/recruitment/ temporary.html/.

You do not have to be in the comptroller career field to be nominated or accepted. The OMB actually prefers that some of its detailees be from other areas of expertise. Whatever your background, it is definitely a great opportunity.

The first week of the assignment includes orientation and training. This is critical to your success--don't miss it. I give the OMB high marks in this department. The training I received was excellent and well presented. At the end of Week 1, I had the tools needed to accomplish my assigned responsibilities as well as an awareness of and an insight into the OMB organization, its mission, and functions.

You are not paid any TDY (temporary duty) or any other form of additional compensation (except for homemade goodies and great holiday parties.) Your home duty location must agree to pay your salary and travel expenses.

There is overtime but, unless you work out a plan in advance with your permanent supervisor, you will NOT be compensated in any way. The team leaders are very willing to verify your work schedule for your permanent supervisor if necessary.

You will be expected to work through the holidays (Christmas Day off is guaranteed, but nothing else). The OMB leadership makes this very clear from the interview forward. But I'll let you in on a little secret: Depending on the agency inputs (meaning their ability to submit their budget on time, which doesn't happen very often), there are opportunities to take a few hours (that is, work an 8-hour day as opposed to 10) or a day or two off here and there.

The good news is that your work will be defined and the timeline clear. Therefore, what you will experience is that a job or task will be given to you and if you want to work from 9 to 9 to get it done in order to have time off or a shorter work day another time, it most likely can be worked out. However, all this depends on the demands of the job and your team leader. The work is hard and long every day.

Weekend work is expected. Sometimes, it is only Saturday or Sunday; you pick your poison, or the team does, but sometimes it's a seven-days-a-week job. Generally, this comes later in the process, closer to the end. By law, the President's budget is due to the Congress in February--and OMB does not miss this deadline!

During your assignment, you will be treated just like a full-time member of the OMB staff, for better or worse. Everyone is professional and fun. A good, but hardworking time will be had by all.

While you are there, you might be able to make arrangements to take six guests (friends and/or family) at a time on the White House tour. This is a very hot commodity these days.

As a thank-you to my co-workers for supporting my absence, I arranged a tour for them. If not for the heightened security, we would have been able to tour the West Wing after hours: but, sadly, it didn't work out for me.

As an OMB employee, you have access to the White House Fitness Center located in the New Executive Office Building. You can work out for a nominal monthly fee and buy plenty of White House Fitness Center logo items.

The full-service cafeteria is reasonably priced, and members of the staff are pleasant and helpful.

Another opportunity you might get is to tour the Eisenhower Executive Building, also known as the Old Executive Office Building (or OEOB). On the tour, you may get the opportunity to see the Vice President's Office and the famous Treaty Room. The building is a historical landmark: the architecture is really something to see.

During the tour, you can shop at the White House Mess and the Air Force One stores. The unique thing about shopping in these stores is that you are helping these organizations raise funds. Lots of folks did some Christmas shopping at these times.

Last, but not least, just in case no one asks you to volunteer, they do look for volunteers to deliver the budget to the Hill. It is a BIG DEAL. There are cameras and news crews every, where. A senior OMB official escorts you, and together you make the rounds in the Senate and House office buildings. Each budget package weighs about 40 pounds. (An aside: Two colleagues and I were featured on "Good Morning America" and were filmed delivering the budget to key congressional officials. My family was proud to see me on television that night on the national news!)

Ms. Smith is a Senior Program Analyst for the Civilian Personnel Management Service (CPMS). She joined CPMS in September 2003 and currently supports the Systems Innovation Division by coordinating and managing the maintenance of the DoD Civilian Human Resources (HR) Strategic Plan, the President's Management Agenda (PMA)--Strategic Management of Human Capital, Balanced Scorecard automation and other Defense-wide business process re-engineering initiatives. Ms. Smith is also a Certified Defense Financial Manager and Chief Information Officer.