Title 31, Money and FinanceRelease 119-110
§503 Functions of Deputy Director for Management
Title 31 › SUBTITLE I — GENERAL › CHAPTER 5 — OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET › SUBCHAPTER I — ORGANIZATION › § 503
Summary
Sets governmentwide rules and actions for how executive agencies handle money, under the Director’s guidance and approval. The Deputy Director for Management must lead federal financial management, make policies, monitor financial systems, review and advise on agency budgets for those systems, check how budgets are spent and reported, and help fix big system problems. The Deputy Director must set standards for Chief Financial Officers and their deputies, advise on hiring and managing financial staff, review agencies’ financial organization, settle disagreements about financial rules, lead the Chief Financial Officers Council, work with state and local finance officers, and issue other needed financial policies. Also sets broad management rules for executive agencies and runs many management areas, such as performance measurement, procurement, grants, data and information policy, property, human resources, regulations, planning, and program evaluation. The Deputy Director must give clear management information to the President, Congress, and the public, help Congress and agencies improve government operations, lead the Chief Information Officers Council, push management innovation, help state and local governments, review agency budget and law proposals for management plans, advise on manager staffing, and perform other Director-assigned tasks. For program and project management, the Deputy Director (or a designee) must adopt and oversee standards, chair the Program Management Policy Council, work with the private sector on best practices, run portfolio reviews for high-risk programs and do annual reviews with Project Management Improvement Officers, and create a 5-year strategic plan. These program/project rules do not apply to the Department of Defense when they duplicate existing Defense law or policy.
Full Legal Text
Title 31, §503
Money and Finance, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Subject to the direction and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director for Management shall establish governmentwide financial management policies for executive agencies and shall perform the following financial management functions:
(1)Perform all functions of the Director, including all functions delegated by the President to the Director, relating to financial management.
(2)Provide overall direction and leadership to the executive branch on financial management matters by establishing financial management policies and requirements, and by monitoring the establishment and operation of Federal Government financial management systems.
(3)Review agency budget requests for financial management systems and operations, and advise the Director on the resources required to develop and effectively operate and maintain Federal Government financial management systems and to correct major deficiencies in such systems.
(4)Review and, where appropriate, recommend to the Director changes to the budget and legislative proposals of agencies to ensure that they are in accordance with financial management plans of the Office of Management and Budget.
(5)Monitor the financial execution of the budget in relation to actual expenditures, including timely performance reports.
(6)Oversee, periodically review, and make recommendations to heads of agencies on the administrative structure of agencies with respect to their financial management activities.
(7)Develop and maintain qualification standards for agency Chief Financial Officers and for agency Deputy Chief Financial Officers appointed under section 901 and 903, respectively (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).
(8)Provide advice to agency heads with respect to the selection of agency Chief Financial Officers and Deputy Chief Financial Officers (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).
(9)Provide advice to agencies regarding the qualifications, recruitment, performance, and retention of other financial management personnel.
(10)Assess the overall adequacy of the professional qualifications and capabilities of financial management staffs throughout the Government and make recommendations on ways to correct problems which impair the capacity of those staffs.
(11)Settle differences that arise among agencies regarding the implementation of financial management policies.
(12)Chair the Chief Financial Officers Council established by section 302 of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.
(13)Communicate with the financial officers of State and local governments, and foster the exchange with those officers of information concerning financial management standards, techniques, and processes.
(14)Issue such other policies and directives as may be necessary to carry out this section, and perform any other function prescribed by the Director.
(b)Subject to the direction and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director for Management shall establish general management policies for executive agencies and perform the following general management functions:
(1)Coordinate and supervise the general management functions of the Office of Management and Budget.
(2)Perform all functions of the Director, including all functions delegated by the President to the Director, relating to—
(A)managerial systems, including the systematic measurement of performance;
(B)procurement policy;
(C)grant, cooperative agreement, and assistance management;
(D)information and statistical policy;
(E)property management;
(F)human resources management;
(G)regulatory affairs; and
(H)other management functions, including organizational studies, long-range planning, program evaluation, productivity improvement, and experimentation and demonstration programs.
(3)Provide complete, reliable, and timely information to the President, the Congress, and the public regarding the management activities of the executive branch.
(4)Facilitate actions by the Congress and the executive branch to improve the management of Federal Government operations and to remove impediments to effective administration.
(5)Chair the Chief Information Officers Council established under section 3603 of title 44.
(6)Provide leadership in management innovation, through—
(A)experimentation, testing, and demonstration programs; and
(B)the adoption of modern management concepts and technologies.
(7)Work with State and local governments to improve and strengthen intergovernmental relations, and provide assistance to such governments with respect to intergovernmental programs and cooperative arrangements.
(8)Review and, where appropriate, recommend to the Director changes to the budget and legislative proposals of agencies to ensure that they respond to program evaluations by, and are in accordance with general management plans of, the Office of Management and Budget.
(9)Provide advice to agencies on the qualification, recruitment, performance, and retention of managerial personnel.
(10)Perform any other functions prescribed by the Director.
(c)Program and Project Management.—
(1)Requirement.—
Subject to the direction and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director for Management or a designee shall—
(A)adopt governmentwide standards, policies, and guidelines for program and project management for executive agencies;
(B)oversee implementation of program and project management for the standards, policies, and guidelines established under subparagraph (A);
(C)chair the Program Management Policy Council established under section 1126(b);
(D)establish standards and policies for executive agencies, consistent with widely accepted standards for program and project management planning and delivery;
(E)engage with the private sector to identify best practices in program and project management that would improve Federal program and project management;
(F)conduct portfolio reviews to address programs identified as high risk by the Government Accountability Office;
(G)not less than annually, conduct portfolio reviews of agency programs in coordination with Project Management Improvement Officers designated under section 1126(a)(1) to assess the quality and effectiveness of program management; and
(H)establish a 5-year strategic plan for program and project management.
(2)Application to department of defense.—
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the Department of Defense to the extent that the provisions of that paragraph are substantially similar to or duplicative of— (A)
(B)policy, guidance, or instruction of the Department related to program management.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
section 302 of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 [Pub. L. 101–576], referred to in subsec. (a)(12), is set out as a note under section 901 of this title.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 503 was renumbered section 505 of this title.
Amendments
2017—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–91 repealed second subsec. (c) as added by Pub. L. 114–328. See 2016 Amendment notes below. 2016—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–328 added second identical subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–264 added subsec. (c). 2002—Subsec. (b)(5) to (10). Pub. L. 107–347 added par. (5) and redesignated former pars. (5) to (9) as (6) to (10), respectively. 1999—Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 106–58, § 638(g)(1), substituted “respectively (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).” for “respectively.” Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 106–58, § 638(g)(2), substituted “Officers (excluding any officer designated or appointed under section 901(c)).” for “Officers.” 1994—Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 103–272 substituted “Perform” for “perform”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–347 effective 120 days after Dec. 17, 2002, see section 402(a)(1) of Pub. L. 107–347, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 3601 of Title 44, Public Printing and Documents.
Effective Date
of 1999 Amendment Pub. L. 106–58, title VI, § 638(h), Sept. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 476, provided that: “This section [amending this section and section 901 and 1105 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 901 of this title] shall take effect at noon on January 20, 2001.” Issuance of Standards, Policies, and Guidelines for Program and Project Management;
Regulations
Pub. L. 114–264, § 2(a)(2), (3), Dec. 14, 2016, 130 Stat. 1372, provided that: “(2) Deadline for standards, policies, and guidelines.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 14, 2016], the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue the standards, policies, and guidelines required under section 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1). “(3)
Regulations
.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the standards, policies, and guidelines are issued under paragraph (2), the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Program Management Policy Council established under section 1126(b) of title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection (b)(1), and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall issue any
Regulations
as are necessary to implement the requirements of section 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1).” Similar provisions were contained in Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 861(a)(2), (3), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2299, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 810(c), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1458.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
31 U.S.C. § 503
Title 31, Money and Finance
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110