I am pleased to announce the Washington Office will integrate its budget functions under the Strategic Planning, Budget, and Accountability director area to support the agency’s continuous efforts to improve how we do business within the Washington Office.

This adjustment provides the organization with a more functional organizational model in response to evolving budget environments. Aligning the way we work, from how we organize to how we operate, ensures success as we take advantage of the opportunities we have been provided, including new funding authorities and policies. This adjustment also will ensure Washington Office budget has an enabling function in accomplishing the agency’s mission, which can only happen if the organization speaks from one voice and processes are seamlessly aligned to provide the consistent and responsive budget leadership necessary to successfully deliver the agency’s mission.

This new integration will strengthen strategic budget operations around agency priorities, improve consistency of budget support and communication, and better align the organization with the agency’s program of work delivery. The outcome will be a flexible, responsive organization that enables the agency to better meet our mission.

Implementing the new integrated budget group has started. Recently, we convened a core team of deputy area budget coordinators, associate deputy chiefs, and Strategic Planning, Budget, and Accountability leadership to work through the details of this business transition. This team has developed an initial road map, including a conceptual organizational chart, a budget/program crosswalk, a summary of roles and responsibilities within the new organization, and a set of standard services that will be provided to program staffs.

Over the next several weeks, the team will meet with Washington Office budget staff and deputy area leadership to further develop the initial road map. This refined information will be used to finalize a new organizational chart complete with position descriptions and employee assignments. Our goal is to begin implementation by the beginning of 2024.

We will continue to provide updates to Washington Office and field units as appropriate to ensure an effective transition. Thank you to everyone involved in this important change as we strive to exemplify our commitment to be a learning organization that continuously improves to meet our mission.

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