Efficiency Review Urged For DOE

Noting a bipartisan congressional consensus for federal spending reductions, a recent annual report by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General (IG) identified changes DOE officials should consider to increase efficiency and save money. The recommendations come in light of expected federal budget cuts, and the report notes some “painful” and “unpleasant realities” that are likely with cuts to DOE’s workforce of 16,000 federal employees and 99,000 contractors. Among its recommendations, the IG suggests DOE consider eliminating functions within the National Nuclear Security Administration that are duplicated in DOE or bringing NNSA back into the department as it was before 2000, when Congress separated the nuclear weapons administration from DOE. The report also recommends an independent review of the potential for “realignment or closure” of some of the more than 20 DOE labs, which have had the same structural organization for a half century.