Robert J. Shea

Robert J. Shea (born June 1, 1968) was the Associate Director for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Administration and Government Performance. He has held various positions in the U.S. legislative branch and in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He managed OMB's internal affairs and led the President's Performance Improvement Initiative, a component of George W. Bush's President's Management Agenda. Additionally, Shea administered the Program Assessment Rating Tool and ExpectMore.gov, advised on government human capital policy, and led inter-agency collaborations in the areas of food safety and implementation of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.
He is now Public Sector Strategy Lead for Grant Thornton. He was appointed by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking.
Education and career
A graduate of Connecticut College and South Texas College of Law, Shea was a Professional Staff Member with the House Committee on Government Reform from 1995 through 1996. There he had responsibility for examining the economy and efficiency of government programs, and acted as liaison with the government's Inspectors General. In 1997, he worked as Legislative Director for Congressman Pete Sessions (TX), where he organized the Results Caucus. In early 1999, Shea was named counsel to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs where, in addition to general oversight of Executive Branch management, he was charged with oversight of the implementation of the statutory framework for performance-based government, including the Government Performance and Results Act and the Chief Financial Officers Act. It was while with the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that Robert led efforts to tabulate and reduce the government's improper payments. The subject of numerous laws and a major Presidential Initiative, U.S. government agencies now report making more than $100B in improper payments annually. In 2002, Shea joined the U.S. Office of Management and Budget where he was appointed to lead the President's Improper Payments Initiative. He enjoyed increasingly greater responsibility leading the President's Budget and Performance Integration Initiative. He administered the Program Assessment rating Tool (PART), recognized by the Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation with an Innovations in American Government Award. Associate Director for Administration and Government Performance in 2007, Shea led implementation of the landmark Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which required all Federal financial transactions to be reported ona single website, USASpending.gov. Shea was one of the longest serving political staffers at OMB during the Bush Administration, serving almost all eight years of the term.
In response to the Federal Computer Week article "Robert Shea to leave OMB", Robert wrote:
I'll be leaving OMB in September, and it's hard. It's been the honor of a lifetime working at OMB and with agencies to improve the results achieved for the American people. I'll get to do that in my next stage, but it won't feel like I'm having as much an impact as I did these last several years. Though you might not know it reading the paper and watching the news, the Federal government is accomplishing amazing things for the American people every day. I hope I contributed my small part, but it's nothing compared to the contributions made by Clay Johnson, Jim Nussle, Karen Evans, and all of the dedicated, hard working, and, most importantly, results oriented people at OMB. I'm proud of what we achieved. I'll miss it a lot.
Author of Chapter 13 (United States), "Performance Budgeting in OECD Countries."
Awards
2006 Executive Leadership Award for Information Resources Management from the Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM)
2008 Federal Computer Week Federal 100 Award

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