Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL), Chair of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the Office of Management and Budget.
This morning we welcome back the Honorable Shalanda Young, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to testify on OMB’s fiscal year 2023 budget.
Director Young is very familiar to us, having previously served as staff director for this Committee.
Last year, she testified before this subcommittee as the acting OMB director. I could not be more thrilled that the President nominated her and the Senate confirmed her to be the permanent head of the agency. Congratulations.
Of course, Director Young’s title is hardly the only thing that has changed in the past year at OMB.
I want to highlight a few of those items.
First, as an ardent supporter of government transparency, I have pushed for years for more openness when it comes to the President’s budget and OMB’s apportionment authority.
So I’m glad that we were able to secure several new transparency requirements in the fiscal year 2022 bill, including the creation of a single landing page with links to federal agency budget justifications and public disclosure of OMB apportionments.
These are important changes that will provide the public with insight into billions of dollars of Federal spending, while ensuring that this Committee-and Congress-can perform its oversight work and ensure that the executive branch is faithfully implementing appropriations law.
I know OMB has already met several deadlines specified in these new provisions, and I look forward to hearing more about when the remaining requirements will be completed.
Last year, Congress also passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This bill is a historic investment in U.S. infrastructure priorities-including broadband, roads and transit, water and power systems, and more-and will provide real benefits to every community in the country.
But it also adds to the oversight responsibilities of OMB, which is already monitoring trillions in spending for coronavirus relief as well as supplemental funding for Ukraine-all in addition to regular appropriations.
OMB is also grappling with significant government-wide challenges and opportunities.
For example, we expect that increased use of remote work will last far beyond the pandemic, allowing agencies to diversify their hiring pools, reduce office space requirements, and cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
The Ukraine situation has also highlighted ongoing deficiencies and vulnerabilities in agency cybersecurity, accentuating OMB’s work coordinating government-wide IT and cyber spending.
We hope to learn more today about how OMB is incorporating these factors into government policy and long-term Federal budget planning.
In recognition of these and other responsibilities, OMB has requested $128 million-a $12 million, or 10% increase, over the fiscal year 2022 enacted budget. This builds on a 9% increase in funding we provided this year.
In addition, the request includes a $6 million increase for the Information Technology Oversight & Reform account, which partially funds OMB’s Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer.
We look forward to a robust discussion about how these funding increases will be used to benefit the public, including combating the inflation that is hitting so many Americans right in their checkbooks.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
