Gates and Responsibility for the F-35

It shouldn't be a big deal that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is withholding $614 million in performance fees from Lockheed Martin over the delays on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, or that he fired the project managers, or that he's taking responsibility for the cost overruns and extended schedule. But frankly, it is. Frequently, in government, I think responsibility and performance management tend to work on a system of extremes: either everything's fine, or a project is completely canceled. Gates' response represents an interim step. Of course, he had tools available to him, including performance clauses, and hiring and firing authority. But the fact that he used them, and is making that use public and clear, is an important step away from those extremes. If the Obama administration wants to build more accountability into government programs, it has to build in both incentives and authorities, and the willingness to make use of them.