The Office of Management and Budget: The Quarterback of Evidence-Based Policy in the Federal Government

• Author: Kathy Stack
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716218768440
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• Date: 01 July 2018
• Subject Matter: The Contributions of Institutions

112 ANNALS, AAPSS, 678, July 2018

DOI: 10.1177/0002716218768440

The Office of

Management

and Budget:

The

Quarterback of

Evidence-Based

Policy in the

Federal

Government

By

KATHY STACK

768440ANN The Annals of the American AcademyThe Office of Management and Budget

research-article2018

During the Obama administration, the White House

Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) leader-

ship helped to initiate and cement evidence-based

policymaking reforms across the federal government,

particularly in social services programs. Notable accom-

plishments were in the design of outcome-focused

programs that use and build evidence, the strengthen-

ing of agency evaluation capacity, and interagency data-

linkage projects to harness administrative data. Here, I

review those accomplishments and catalog the key

assets and tactics that OMB used to help federal agen-

cies increase their use of evidence and innovation. I

also assess the shortcomings and limitations of the

Obama-era OMB approach and draw conclusions

about what could be done in the current or a future

administration to further advance evidence-based poli-

cymaking in the executive branch. Specifically, I pro-

pose that Congress and the administration should work

to improve agency evaluation capacity, assess and

report on agencies’ progress in using and building evi-

dence, and establish an Intergovernmental Evidence

and Innovation Council.

Keywords: evidence-based policy; Office of Manage-

ment and Budget; White House; social

policy; federal agencies; program evalua-

tion; data

Ron Haskins has dubbed the White House

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

“the quarterback of evidence-based policymak-

ing” for its role in marshalling talent and

resources across the federal agencies to use and

Correspondence: kstack9117@gmail.com

Kathy Stack was, until January 2018, the vice president

of Results-Driven Government at the Laura and John

Arnold Foundation (LJAF); she now serves as a consult-

ant to nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining LJAF,

she worked in the federal government, including 27

years at the White House Office of Management and

Budget (OMB). Under the Obama administration, she

led the evidence team at OMB. Prior to that, she over-

saw budget, policy, legislation, regulations, and man-

agement issues for the Departments of Education and

Labor as well as for major human services programs.