Panel debates status of Homeland Security chief financial officer
To fix weaknesses in financial management, the Homeland Security Department should develop standard policies and centralize control over accountants from different agencies within the department, the DHS inspector general said Wednesday.
Currently, financial managers at agencies within Homeland Security report directly to the heads of those agencies, rather than to Andrew Maner, the department's recently appointed chief financial officer. Maner will have a difficult time improving Homeland Security's overall financial management if he lacks the authority to hire, fire and evaluate the performance of accountants and other financial staff, DHS Inspector General Clark Ervin testified before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Efficiency and Financial Management.
A similar problem exists with technology and procurement experts at DHS agencies, who report to agency heads rather than officials in central department offices, Ervin said. Maner told lawmakers that Homeland Security officials are considering changing these policies.
This decision will be difficult, because the current reporting structure has benefits, Maner said. Financial officials gain from developing close relationships with agency heads, he said. "It's a very fine balance."
To operate effectively, the Homeland Security Department's CFO office also should establish a formal chain of command for accountants and other financial managers, Ervin said. "The [central CFO office] has not yet established a hierarchy of financial reporting authority, or an entitywide financial management organization chart that clearly defines roles and responsibilities and assists with the identification of critical human resources needed to ensure that all financial management responsibilities are assigned," he testified.
The Homeland Security CFO's office has "relatively few finance personnel, who principally serve to coordinate financial management policy and consolidate financial information submitted by the bureaus," Ervin added. Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., chairman of the subcommittee, said he worries that with only 10 or so accountants, the CFO office might rely too heavily on financial managers at agencies.
But Maner said he is "comfortable" with his current staff levels. He added that he is happy reporting directly to DHS Undersecretary for Management Janet Hale rather than Secretary Tom Ridge.
Platts and Virginia Republican Tom Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, last summer introduced legislation (H.R. 2886) that would require Homeland Security to abide by the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act.
The legislation would require the Senate to confirm DHS chief financial officer nominees and would call for the department to obtain annual audit opinions on internal anti-fraud and embezzlement procedures beginning in fiscal 2005. Homeland Security is the only department without a Senate-confirmed CFO.
Like his predecessor Bruce Carnes, Maner told lawmakers the legislation is well-intentioned, but unnecessary. He assured Platts that he already enjoys "unfettered" access to Ridge. The department's current management structure is "working very effectively," he said. "This legislation will not alter the way in which I perform my job, nor will it provide me any tools, reporting structures or authorities that I do not have today," he testified.
Maner added that lawmakers must give Homeland Security time to develop standard financial management procedures and make other improvements possible under the current structure. "We need some patience in terms of what we're trying to do," he said.
The Bush administration also opposes the legislation, which passed the House Government Reform Committee and Select Committee on Homeland Security late last year, but is now "stuck" according to a House committee aide. Republican leadership is not inclined to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, the aide explained.
"Leadership won't touch it," the aide said.
The White House did not return press calls on the matter, but committee staff members said the administration opposes the legislation partly because the House Homeland Security Committee in November added language codifying the DHS program analysis and evaluation office and requiring the department's secretary to submit an annual, comprehensive national strategy for homeland security.
The Senate passed a companion measure (S. 1567) in November 2003, and the House could potentially take up that measure to bypass the stalemate over the controversial language added to H.R. 2886 by the House security committee, a subcommittee staff member said.