Goals and Objectives

In June 2011, President Barack Obama announced a “Campaign to Cut Waste” to eliminate wasteful spending and make government more accountable (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House). The initiative’s core goal was to “hunt down and eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the federal government” (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House). Vice President Joe Biden was tasked to lead this effort, holding Cabinet members accountable for finding efficiencies in their agencies (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House). A key objective was to bring Recovery Act–style transparency and oversight to all federal spending, building on the 2009 stimulus oversight successes. A new high-level oversight board was created to track spending and fight waste, fraud, and abuse, emulating the transparency of Recovery.gov (the stimulus tracking website) (Building on a Successful Recovery.gov - Center for American Progress). President Obama emphasized that even in tackling deficits, “no amount of waste is acceptable – not when it’s your money” (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House), underscoring that improving efficiency and accountability had been a priority “since day one” of his administration (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House).

Specific Initiatives Undertaken to Reduce Waste

The Campaign to Cut Waste launched a series of initiatives and directives aimed at cutting inefficiencies, including:

• Oversight and Accountability Board: The Executive Order established a new Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GATB) composed of 11 “watchdogs” (Inspectors General and senior officials). This board’s mission was to enhance tracking of federal spending and expand use of fraud-detection tools across government, replicating the Recovery Act’s accountability model (Vice President Biden to Take on Making Government More Accountable | whitehouse.gov) (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). The GATB was charged with recommending ways to improve spending data transparency and to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov) (Obama Launches New Campaign to Cut Waste | IBM Center for The Business of Government). It worked closely with the pre-existing Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to share best practices and data analytics techniques for oversight (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov).
• Cabinet-Level Accountability Meetings: President Obama directed agency heads to report regularly to Vice President Biden on their progress in cutting waste (Vice President Biden to Take on Making Government More Accountable | whitehouse.gov). Biden was to hold regular Cabinet meetings focused on waste reduction and efficiency, similar to his role overseeing the stimulus (“Sheriff Joe”) (Vice President Biden to Take on Making Government More Accountable | whitehouse.gov). This put top-down pressure on agencies to deliver results and allowed Biden to monitor progress and troubleshoot issues in person (Vice President Biden to Take on Making Government More Accountable | whitehouse.gov).
• Federal Website Consolidation: An immediate target was the proliferation of federal websites. At launch, the administration identified roughly 1,750 top-level federal .gov domains, many of which were redundant ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). Obama imposed a moratorium on new federal websites and set a goal to cut the number of sites in half within a year ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). The White House even singled out obscure or outdated websites (e.g. a desert tortoise site and a “Fiddlin’ Foresters” music page) as examples of pointless spending (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). By reducing and consolidating websites, the government aimed to save money on maintenance and reduce confusion for the public ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste).
• Excess Property Disposal: The campaign targeted real estate waste, noting the government owned thousands of excess or vacant buildings. Obama cited about 12,000 buildings labeled “excess” and pushed to sell or dispose of unneeded federal properties (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). He proposed an independent commission (akin to a base closure commission) to cut through red tape and expedite property sales, with a potential savings of up to $15 billion for taxpayers (Vice President Biden to Take on Making Government More Accountable | whitehouse.gov) (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). Freeing the government from costs of maintaining empty facilities was a major efficiency goal.
• Cutting Printing and Overhead Costs: The administration moved to eliminate outdated practices like printing thousands of paper copies of the Federal Register each day. Since the Federal Register was already available online, Obama ordered an end to the daily printing and mailing of it, a change expected to save millions of dollars annually (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). Agencies were also directed to slash spending on non-essential items (e.g. promotional swag like logo mugs, uniforms, commemorative plaques) and to limit executive perks. In a related 2011 executive order on efficient spending, agencies were told to reduce travel, printing, supplies, and fleet expenses by 20% or more, and to stop wasting taxpayer money on non-essential promotional items (We Can't Wait: President Obama to Sign Executive Order to Cut ...).
• Administrative Savings Targets: As part of the campaign, the White House set concrete budget reduction targets for agencies’ administrative expenses. For 2012, agencies were tasked with achieving $8 billion in cumulative administrative savings, and an $8.8 billion goal was set for 2013 ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). Areas of focus included travel and conference budgets, employee information technology devices, and contracting costs. For example, agencies were instructed to cut travel and conference spending by consolidating meetings and increasing use of teleconferencing. By identifying efficiencies large and small, the administration aimed to trim overhead costs across government operations ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste).
• Cracking Down on Improper Payments and Fraud: A major efficiency effort was to reduce erroneous payments (such as benefits paid to ineligible or deceased individuals). The administration launched the “Do Not Pay” online tool, a centralized database to help agencies check contractor and beneficiary lists to avoid payments to deceased, incarcerated, or otherwise ineligible recipients (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). In April 2012, the Office of Management and Budget mandated that agencies use the Do Not Pay system to screen payments (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). The initiative built on existing programs to curb improper payments, and by 2012 the government reported the improper payment rate had decreased from 5.4% in 2009 to 4.3% – indicating progress in preventing wasteful outlays (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times). The Vice President also highlighted efforts to combat fraud in big entitlement programs: for instance, expanding Medicare and Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor programs (created under the Affordable Care Act) to recover over-billings. In September 2011 Biden announced a new waste-fighting initiative in Medicaid projected to save $2.1 billion over five years, and stepped-up oversight of states’ Unemployment Insurance payments to reduce improper payouts (VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ANNOUNCES OVER $2 BILLION IN ANTI-WASTE MEASURES AT CABINET MEETING | CMS) (VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ANNOUNCES OVER $2 BILLION IN ANTI-WASTE MEASURES AT CABINET MEETING | CMS).
• Duplicative Program Cuts and Budget Reforms: The campaign dovetailed with a broader Accountable Government Initiative led by OMB, which sought to streamline programs and eliminate overlap. Agencies were instructed to identify duplicative programs (especially those flagged in Government Accountability Office reports) and propose consolidations or cuts (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). The Executive Order also tasked agency Chief Operating Officers (usually Deputy Secretaries) to lead performance improvement efforts under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, and required agency Chief Financial Officers to pursue cost-saving reforms (Obama Launches New Campaign to Cut Waste | IBM Center for The Business of Government) (Obama Launches New Campaign to Cut Waste | IBM Center for The Business of Government). The goal was to integrate waste-cutting into agencies’ strategic plans and budget processes, not just as one-time measures.
• SAVE Award (Employee Suggestions): The Securing American Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award, an annual contest encouraging federal employees to submit cost-saving ideas, became part of the Campaign to Cut Waste. Biden’s initiative embraced front-line suggestions for eliminating waste. According to the White House, by 2012 66 employee ideas from SAVE Award submissions had been incorporated into the administration’s budgets (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times) (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times). Examples included simple fixes like having eligible federal workers use retiree transit fare discounts to lower government commuting subsidies (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times). This bottom-up approach supplemented the top-down mandates with on-the-ground ideas for efficiencies.

Performance and Oversight Reports

Evaluations of the Campaign’s performance presented a mixed picture. Officially, the Obama administration reported significant progress and savings, while independent audits found many initiatives lagged behind initial goals:

• Progress Reported by the Administration: By late 2012, White House officials claimed the campaign exceeded its $8 billion savings target. They announced that agencies had achieved $8.3 billion in administrative cost reductions in FY2012, and set a higher goal of $8.8 billion for 2013 ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). Among the reported savings were a $2 billion cut in travel and conference spending from 2010 to 2012, and identification of $8 billion worth of surplus federal properties for disposal ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). The administration also pointed to a decline in improper payments (an improvement of about $20 billion, due in part to tools like “Do Not Pay”) and noted that federal contract spending had dropped for the first time in over a decade (Executive Order 13576--Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government | The White House). Officials argued these efforts showed a new commitment to frugality in government. For example, a 2013 inspector general audit of the IRS – released amid a scandal over IRS conferences – actually documented that IRS travel expenses fell from $37 million in 2010 to $4.9 million in 2012, reflecting the broader clamp-down on conference spending across agencies (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times). Administration leaders touted such figures as evidence that the Campaign to Cut Waste was delivering real results before across-the-board sequestration cuts ever took effect (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times) (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times).
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Audits: At the request of Senator Tom Coburn (a leading fiscal hawk), the nonpartisan CRS examined implementation of the June 2011 executive order. Their findings, highlighted in mid-2012 and 2013 reports, were less rosy. CRS found that some high-profile promises were behind schedule or unfulfilled. For instance, Obama’s pledge to halve the number of federal websites within one year was not met – only a 16% reduction occurred in the first year (1,750 sites down to ~1,478), and about 27% reduction after two years (around 1,280 sites) ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). This meant the “half-off” website goal was running a year late and only halfway achieved by mid-2013. CRS also noted that the executive order’s requirement for monthly Cabinet waste-reduction meetings led by Biden was not strictly followed. In fact, the new Government Accountability and Transparency Board convened only eight times total (all in 2011), and held no monthly meetings in 2012 ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). The only time Vice President Biden received a report from the board was when he specifically requested an update in November 2011 ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste), indicating the envisioned regular oversight rhythm had lapsed. These findings suggested that momentum from the initial launch had tapered off. Additionally, a 2012 CRS review of each section of the executive order (prepared for Sen. Coburn) concluded that many items were still “in progress” or only partially implemented a year later ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). In short, independent oversight reports questioned the depth and follow-through of the campaign’s execution.
• Inspector General and GAO Feedback: The Campaign to Cut Waste coincided with intensified scrutiny of agency operations. While not a single program with its own budget, the campaign’s themes echoed in audits across government. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), for example, was releasing annual reports on duplicative programs and cost overlaps. Critics noted that Obama’s initiative didn’t tackle some of GAO’s biggest targets. “If the President truly wants to eliminate duplicative, wasteful spending, he should start with the GAO’s report,” said Tom Schatz of Citizens Against Government Waste, referencing GAO findings of redundant job training and food assistance programs worth tens of billions (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). Likewise, watchdogs urged the administration to act on GAO’s identification of $100+ billion in overlapping programs rather than focus on relatively small savings like websites and travel (President Obama’s “Campaign to Cut Waste” Has Lackluster Prospects | Citizens Against Government Waste). Internal watchdogs also weighed in: agency Inspectors General were members of the GATB and presumably fed ideas to the board. In early 2014, for example, the GATB held a public meeting where groups like CAGW testified about needed transparency and waste-cutting measures (CAGW Testifies before the Government Accountability and ...). Some IGs praised tools like the Do Not Pay list for helping reduce improper payments. Overall, however, official audits signaled that while the Campaign to Cut Waste made some headway on administrative savings, it fell short on structural changes. A front-page Washington Times assessment in June 2013 (two years in) concluded the campaign had a “mixed record”: real savings achieved in areas like travel, but many goals (like web consolidation) only half-complete and overshadowed by larger budget issues (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times) (Obama's vow to cut federal websites in half is still a distant goal - Washington Times).
• Recovery Board and GATB Outcome: The Government Accountability and Transparency Board delivered an initial report to the President in Dec 2011 with recommendations (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov), and provided a progress update in mid-2012 (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). The recommended steps – such as deploying data analytics to detect fraud, creating a single spending database, and instituting a universal award ID for contracts/grants – were gradually pursued (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov) (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). For example, by spring 2012 the administration launched pilot programs to use Recovery.gov’s system for tracking spending on a broader scale and began testing a single portal for grant reporting (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). The “Do Not Pay” anti-fraud system recommended by the GATB was implemented government-wide in 2013 (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). However, the GATB itself did not become a permanent fixture. According to CRS, the board became inactive after 2011 ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste). Its functions and ideas were later absorbed into other initiatives (notably the federal DATA Act of 2014, which mandated standardized open spending data). In July 2012, Obama appointed a new GATB chair (Dick Ginman from the Defense Department) to reinvigorate the effort (New Progress, New Leadership at GATB | whitehouse.gov). Still, by 2013–2014 the heavy lifting on government-wide transparency shifted to Treasury and OMB implementing new laws, and the GATB faded from view. In sum, audits and reports show the campaign delivered modest administrative savings and seeded some long-term transparency projects, but it did not fully meet all its ambitious targets and had uneven follow-through in its later years ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste) ("Campaign to Cut Waste" Falls Short | Citizens Against Government Waste).