‘Not just another back office function’: US government pledges to empower federal CIOs
A senior figure in the White House has called for technology leaders in the federal government to be embedded in leadership across departments and agencies, and to better coordinate on best practices and technology solutions.
Eric Ueland, deputy director for management in the Office of Management and Budget, said that chief information officers in government aren’t “just another back office function”, and that the OMB was going to “break down barriers, ensure integration and drive for outcomes” to empower the roles.
Speaking at GovExec’s Government Efficiency Summit last week, Ueland said that many federal CIOs don’t share a common view “of their value proposition and the best way for them to work inside their departments and across the federal enterprise”.
He said: “They barely even coordinate well with each other. They don’t share common missions, best practices or even technology solutions. This has to stop.”
Ueland’s comments mirror recommendations from Global Government Forum’s From Lagging to Leading: The Opportunity for a Breakthrough in U.S. Government Digital Service Delivery report, published ahead of last November’s presidential election to help inform the next government’s agenda, which called for an increase in CIO discretion and to expand the scope of shared initiatives to better share what works across the federal government.
Ueland said he wanted to partner with leaders in other government agencies to drive change, and said technology is a top priority for the OMB, alongside reorganisation, procurement reform and Made in America procurement policies.
Read more: Global Government Forum’s ‘From Lagging to Leading: The Opportunity for a Breakthrough in U.S. Government Digital Service Delivery’ report makes five key recommendations for the US government based on interviews with federal CIOs. Read now
CIOs urged to focus on modernisation and AI
One of the actions planned by the OMB is working to set clearer authorities within departments and across the government to empower the CIO, “so that when a department turns to the CIO, the CIO is actually able to deliver and the secretary or director knows that with confidence this can actually get done”.
Ueland’s comments come after the Trump administration set out plans to turn all US federal chief information officer roles into potential political appointees.
In a memo sent to all department heads in February, the Office of Personnel Management’s then acting director Charles Ezell said that the role of CIOs in government had changed, meaning that it was “no longer the station of impartial and apolitical technocrats” and that “the modern agency CIO role demands policy-making and policy-determinant capacities across a range of controversial political topics”.
As a result, the OPM said it is now recommending that each agency with a CIO role classified as part of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service should be reclassified. Most of these CIO posts are currently positions reserved for career officials, but the OPM is now recommending these become general positions which could be filled by any type of government appointee, and that protections against being removed from posts by political appointees, such as during a change in administration, would end.
Ueland said the White House wants CIOs to focus on modernising antiquated systems and deploying artificial intelligence.
Within those priorities are plans to modernise government HR services, and to rationlise thousands of federal websites. One thousand websites have been culled, bringing the total from 7,000 to 6,000.
“This 15% reduction is just a first step,” Ueland said. “We’ll continue to consolidate websites so when Americans use the web to find what they need, it’ll be easier, simpler and much more direct.”
Government Service Delivery – the new name for GovernmentDX – will bring together global digital government leaders to explore how governments can use tech-driven innovation to deliver high-quality public services. The event will be held at Walter E Washington Convention Center, Washington DC on October 29 – 30, 2025. Find out more and register your interest here
US government HR chief urges to ‘institutionalise’ DOGE reforms
Ueland’s comments come as Scott Kupor was confirmed as director of the Office of Personnel Management, which manages the United States federal civil service.
Speaking at the OPM’s headquarters after his confirmation, Kupor he would aim to “institutionalise” the reforms being led by the Department of Government Efficiency.
DOGE was set up by Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk with an objective to cut the federal government workforce and reduce spending, with actions including offering public servants eight months’ pay to resign, and placing all staff at the international development agency USAID on administrative leave and cutting aid payments. DOGE has also led initiatives such as requesting that federal government employees detail their work in order to plan what it calls ‘reductions-in-force’.
Kupor said that what DOGE had done was “the start of a process”, and now the government would work to “institutionalise” measures to pursue “operational efficiency”.
Addressing the federal government’s plans for a revised performance management regime for civil servants with the aim of building a “culture of excellence” in the federal workforce, Kupor said it seemed “off” that roughly 70% of federal government employees recieve the highest remarks in their performance reviews.
The OPM has set out details of a revised performance management regime for civil servants with the aim of building a “culture of excellence” in the federal workforce, focused on three pillars:
- Reform of federal performance management.
- Available tools for preventing and addressing unacceptable job performance.
- Changes to agency policies to improve performance management.
About Richard Johnstone
