Mike Lawler Asks Witness How Congress Should Assess Bureau Of Administration's Efficiency

3/31/2025

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) asked witness Carrie Cabelka, former assistant secretary for the Bureau of Administration, about ways to assess the bureau’s efficiency.

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Transcript

00:00Recognize myself for five minutes of questioning.

00:04Ms. Shabaka, in your own words, can you describe the role and function of the Bureau of Administration?

00:11What is its mission?

00:13And during your tenure there, what did you see as the biggest weakness within the Bureau?

00:22Thank you for the question, Chairman Lawlor.

00:25Like I said in my opening remarks, I really do feel like the Bureau of Administration

00:29is the administrative backbone of the State Department, focuses on lots of operations

00:34that the State Department, both domestically and overseas, really needs to support the

00:39work that they are doing abroad.

00:40So everything from, again, moving people's home goods, to overseas school support, to

00:45language services, also procurement, which we talked about already, both of us, in our

00:51opening remarks, that that is obviously a vital part of providing services and additional

00:56support for the State Department.

00:57So I would say, again, it's the administrative backbone of the Department.

01:01And again, as I mentioned, it's been around for 80 years, and though it doesn't have typing

01:06pools any longer or call centers in the same way that it did, technology has certainly

01:11evolved and opportunities have certainly evolved for the State Department.

01:14I would say one of the biggest challenges that I had when I was at the State Department

01:18was the ILMS system that I mentioned in my opening remarks.

01:22It's a significant platform that really does track all the logistical support for the State

01:27Department.

01:28Unfortunately, it's a pretty big platform that's been overly specialized over time and

01:34is very integrated.

01:35And I would say that the contract that it was originally placed on were very long contracts

01:40that have existed for a long time.

01:42And I think that as technology has improved, that the ILMS project should move on to new

01:47technological platforms that can support that effort going further.

01:51I appreciate that.

01:53So, in the work that we're doing now, especially considering that Congress has not undertaken

01:58this responsibility in two decades, what do you see as some of the considerations that

02:06we should make in assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the current organization

02:12of the Bureau?

02:13Sure.

02:14So, like I mentioned, a lot of the Bureau of Administration actually does already operate

02:21under an efficiency-type model, and the fact that when you work in a revolving fund space

02:26or in a working capital fund, you always want to make sure that you do not go into the red.

02:30And there are several lines of effort at the State Department, not just in the Bureau of

02:34Administration, that work in a working capital fund, like the Counselor Affairs work that

02:37you see.

02:38I think something that's very smart about it is that it allows the staff to be agile,

02:43going where the demand is, the demand from within the State Department, which is what

02:48A's focus is most certainly, but places like Counselor Affairs can look to the outside

02:52and see what the demand is for their needs of staffing and their needs of effort.

02:56So, I think one thing that people should certainly look at is, are there working capital fund

03:01opportunities within the State Department that they can look to to make sure that they

03:06really are right-sized already?

03:08And again, making sure that your program doesn't go into the red versus asking Congress for

03:12more money is certainly a way that people can do that.

03:15So, a Bureau is responsible for domestic operations and emergency services at the Department.

03:21Can you explain to us what that encompasses and how it differs from the Bureau of Diplomatic

03:26Security's role?

03:27Sure.

03:28For instance, why is emergency services planning and operations for domestic and foreign incidents

03:34split into two different bureaus?

03:36Sure.

03:37So, emergency management services in the Bureau of Administration is actually more focused

03:42on COOP and COG, so continuing operations, both of government and of operations at the

03:48State Department.

03:49So, it's more of a domestic focus, so thinking of things like active shooter, unfortunately,

03:54and other topics like that, but also, obviously, emerging health crises.

03:58Obviously, emergency management was used a lot during COVID.

04:01Obviously, there was also a lot of efforts that were done internationally on COVID as

04:05well, but the focus is more domestic.

04:07I cannot speak to why emergency management services was originally put into the A Bureau,

04:12but it's been there a long time.

04:13I can certainly do that.

04:14And again, it's a slightly different focus than diplomatic security.

04:17However, they do work very closely together.

04:21That was my next question.

04:23They're coordinating between emergency planning with diplomatic security officials?

04:28Most certainly.

04:29Okay.

04:30Are there gaps in funding personnel or technology that hinder effective emergency coordination

04:37between A Bureau and diplomatic security?

04:40I can't speak to diplomatic security, as I never worked in that bureau, but I can say

04:44emergency management services, we never had a shortfall.

04:47We actually did update the notification system when I was in the A Bureau from an outdated

04:53system, and that is basically so people can, employees can call in if there is an active

04:57shooter situation, checking in, making sure people know where they are during a weather

05:01emergency or those sorts of things for the State Department to be able to do headcount.

05:04So that is a system that was updated when I was at the State Department, but I don't

05:08remember there being any financial problems when I was there.

Mike Lawler Asks Witness How Congress Should Assess Bureau Of Administration's Efficiency

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