National Drug Control Strategy Lacks Objectives, Government Report Says

The Trump Administration’s first National Drug Control Strategy, released in January, lacks objectives, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Triana McNeil, the GAO’s Acting Director of Strategic Issues, told the House Oversight Committee last week that the strategy is “completely void of any performance measurement system,” ABC News reports. She asked, “How can ONDCP track its own progress? How can ONDCP be held accountable, without this critical system in place?” The strategy is required by law to include annual objectives that are quantifiable and measurable, or a five-year projection for program and budget priorities.

Committee Chair Elijah Cummings called the report “a 23-page pamphlet. It fails to meet even the most basic requirements in the law.” He said he had repeatedly asked for ONDCP Director James Carroll to testify before the committee in 2018, but he refused.

At the hearing, McNeil said the GAO has requested to speak with members of ONDCP, but have only been able to meet with them once. Carroll said he had not been told of these requests, but said that he would make staffers “instantly available.”