WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2022) The Energy Department's Office of Environmental Management for toxic and radioactive waste significantly underperformed because it has suffered frequent turnover in its top leadership position for decades, with the average top leader serving for less than two years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report.
"The Energy Department Office of Environmental Management has experienced frequent turnover in its top leadership position, with the average top leader serving for less than two years," the report said on Tuesday.
In the past two decades, there have been five Senate-confirmed assistant secretaries - political appointees - and nine acting assistant secretaries or senior advisers, the report said.
Consequently, "Frequent turnover has created challenges for achieving the department's complex and long-term cleanup mission, such as difficulty building relationships with stakeholders, inconsistent and incomplete initiatives and a focus on short-term actions over long-term priorities," the report added.
The Energy Department's deputy secretary told the GAO that filling the Office of Environmental Management's top leadership position with a senior career official, rather than a political appointee, could help overcome some of the challenges, if he or she served for a long enough tenure, according to the report.
