## Notes from 11 December 2025 [[2025-12-1-|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2025-12-12|Next note →]] Read an [excellent analysis](https://www.niskanencenter.org/demystifying-the-new-presidents-management-agenda/) of the new President's Management Agenda by [[Gabe Scheffler]] ([[Niskanen Center]]) and [[Loren DeJonge Schulman]], from the [[Federation of American Scientists]]. I've been following Gabe's work for a while - he consistently produces some of the sharpest writing on the US federal management policy out there. The piece walks through the [second Trump Administration's PMA release](https://www.performance.gov/pma/), comparing it to previous iterations under Bush, Obama, Biden, and the first Trump term. The authors identify several promising areas: tackling the federal real estate mess, holding contractors accountable, breaking down data silos, and the [Revolutionary FAR Overhaul](https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul) that seeks to simplify procurement rules. They also flag evergreen challenges that keep appearing across administrations... improper payments, workforce downsizing, procurement consolidation, cybersecurity... What's missing, they argue, is any serious focus on customer experience, which had been a bipartisan priority producing measurable improvements. More concerning is how culture-war language ("eradicate woke programs," "annihilate government censorship") sits awkwardly alongside legitimate technocratic goals - creating a document that tries to be both partisan messaging and sober management policy. The authors worry this lack of clarity will undermine implementation: agencies won't know what to prioritize, and the hard work of actually changing workflows and culture will get lost in the noise. The core insight: declaring a management agenda is easy; changing government is hard. PMAs succeed or fail based on disciplined follow-through, clear metrics, and sustained leadership attention - not on the elegance of the memo itself.