This post first appeared on Government Executive. Read the original article.
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President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as acting leader of the General Services Administration told the agency’s workforce today that GSA is “recommitting itself to its founding purpose: ensuring government-wide efficiency and maximizing value for the American taxpayer,” in an email obtained by Nextgov/FCW.
Stephen Ehikian — formerly the VP of Product at Salesforce, per his LinkedIn — is serving as GSA’s new deputy administrator and leading the agency in an acting capacity, according to the email.
Trump has yet to announce his intended nominee to serve as permanent head for the agency, which plays a key role in managing the government’s real estate, procurement power and technology. This is the first the agency workforce has heard so far in terms of who the agency’s new leadership will be and what their priorities are, according to a GSA employee who was not authorized to speak on the record.
The email also names other appointees across the agency. Frank Schuler and Michael Lynch are set to serve as senior advisors; Josh Gruenbaum as the commissioner of the Federal Acqusition Service; and Thomas Shedd as Technology Transformation Services director and deputy commissioner.
Additionally, Mike Peters is serving as the commissioner of the Public Building Service and Rusty McGranahan as the general counsel.
The email from Ehikian also lays out several “principles” for GSA, starting with a “culture of performance and accountability” for the government and contracting workforce. Trump has taken an antagonistic tone with the federal workforce and promised to reinstate policies from his first term to make it easier to fire federal employees.
Ehikian also establishes a focus on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, as well as using “best in class technologies” for IT modernization and digital transformation and pushing Made in America policies.
The acting administrator also writes that GSA will be “reducing dependency on external consultants” and “committing to the principles of competition that make America’s economy the most dynamic in the world, including merit-based and impartial awarding of government contracts.”
The new GSA leadership team follows the work of Biden appointee Robin Carnahan, who wrote in a recent GovExec op-ed that “a skilled, agile and empowered federal workforce is the most important factor in the federal government’s ability to deliver for the people we serve.” She highlighted the agency’s work on the government’s single sign-on, Login.gov; reduction in the government’s building footprint and more.
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