by Vinny Knowles

Created on: February 21, 2009   Last Updated: February 25, 2009

In order to understand the function of The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) you can draw yourself a mental picture by thinking of President Obama as the chief executive of a big company. The Office of Management and Budget would be like the main office of the Company. In that office the budget for the organization is established and any changes to the budget are considered. They also make sure that the smaller "business branches" under them are adhering to the plan. They are close to the President and give him advice on many issues. They help the President (the head of our company) make decisions.

But there is a Board of Directors that has to approve decisions. Actually in our company's case (because we are so important) we have two boards. They are called the Senate and the House of Representatives. And who are we in relation to this big business? We are the shareholders. We buy into the company by paying taxes. We have our say through voting.

In the OMB (the main office) there are two kinds of jobs. There are what we call "career" positions and there are "appointed" positions.

There are six appointed positions. They are appointed by the President. However, they do have to have Senate approval. Those six positions are:

The Director

The Deputy Director

The Deputy Director for Management

Administrators of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Office of Federal Procurement Policy

Office of Federal Financial Management

These position are the more vulnerable positions because if the office of president changes new people could be appointed. On the other hand, the career positions will be around a while. And there are hundreds of these jobs. These are all the people who are managing the many projects of our company (federal programs). Because of the vast number of these jobs, our company is considered an EOE (an Equal Opportunity Employer).

During this time of financial crisis in America, you can imagine that the OMB is a beehive of activity. You can further imagine what it was like during the negotiations concerning the recent stimulus package. Because the financial operations of a big company are so important, this office is vitally important to our nation. We can see that in the decisions being made there now.

So, I hope by comparing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to a large company's business office, you can better understand its function.

Sources:

www.wikipedia.com

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/organization

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