Office of Management and Budget

Definition/Scope: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). It is an the conduit by which the White House oversees the activities of federal agencies. OMB is tasked with giving expert advice to senior White House officials on a range of topics relating to federal policy, management, legislative, regulatory, and budgetary issues. OMB performs its coordination role by gathering, filtering, and promulgating the President’s annual budget request, by issuing bulletins, memoranda and circulars dictating agency management practices, by overseeing the "President’s Management Agenda", and by reviewing agency regulations. OMB’s mission is to assist the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies. In helping to formulate the President’s spending plans, OMB evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President’s Budget and with Administration policies. In addition, OMB oversees and coordinates the Administration’s procurement, financial management, information, and regulatory policies. In each of these areas, OMB’s role is to help improve administrative management, to develop better performance measures and coordinating mechanisms, and to reduce any unnecessary burdens on the public. Over ninety percent of the staff hold career, rather than political, appointments.

Use:

OMB

Used For:

BOB
Bureau of the Budget

Acronym:

OMB

Broader Terms:

Executive Office of the President
Executive Office of the President of the United States
executive staff
President of the United States

Narrower Terms:

Approved Operating Budget
Consolidated Financial Report
economics
Office of Federal Financial Management
Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Related Terms:

earmark
Joint Financial Management Improvement Program
OMB circular
OMB Director
Treasury Department