The Nuclear Weapons Council’s actions to coordinate the stockpile responsibilities of the Defense Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration are “not fully consistent” with key practices for interagency collaboration, a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday found. While the 43-page report found that the Council’s actions are “generally consistent” with “most key practices” for NNSA-DoD cooperation, it also found that the Council lacks an up-to-date collaboration guidance agreement and that NNSA budget and program officials’ low attendance to support meetings might be cramping the Council’s ability to manage and respond to unanticipated budget questions that arise at meetings.
“DOD and NNSA budget and program evaluation officials are not required to attend Council support committee meetings,” the report states. “DOD budget and program evaluation officials are invited and generally attend, but NNSA budget and program evaluation officials generally do not attend because they are invited at the discretion of NNSA support committee members. Without a requirement that both DOD and NNSA budget and program evaluation officials consistently attend all support committee meetings, the Council may be limited in its ability to manage and respond to unanticipated budget questions as they arise at meetings.”
Among GAO’s recommendations was that DoD and the Energy Department update the Council’s still active 1997 memorandum of agreement to describe Council processes, and require that DoD and NNSA budget and program evaluation officials attend all support committee meetings. The report notes the 18-year-old memorandum is outdated, partly because the Council’s responsibilities expanded in 2013. The report states that while Council officials have said they haven’t updated the agreement because “they do not believe it is necessary” and because it could limit their flexibility by being too prescriptive, other officials cited confusion and disagreement over some Council processes like certifying NNSA’s budget request. “[U]pdating the memorandum of agreement might improve the clarity and consistency of the Council’s processes,” the report states. DoD and NNSA generally agreed with GAO’s recommendations, according to the report.
Jobs