The House Government Reform Committee has passed legislation (HR-185) to require the Office of Management and Budget to review, “to the maximum extent practicable,” each program activity in the federal government at least once every five years. The review, to be performed by government employees, would focus on the purpose, design, strategic plan, management, results, and other measures of each program. Results of those reviews would be submitted to the Congress, which could use them in decisions on funding those programs, including whether to eliminate them. OMB currently conducts similar assessments through a Bush administration initiative called the Program Assessment Rating Tool, which was developed to assess and improve program performance throughout the federal government. The legislation effectively would lock that initiative into law.