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AOC reports filling senior roles, shrinking IG backlog and launching asset management system
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Summary
Architect Thomas Austin said the AOC has reduced vacancies and nearly completed senior leadership hires, reduced the Inspector General recommendation backlog from 89 to 37 over six months, and is implementing an enterprise asset management system to address maintenance backlog and capital planning.
Thomas Austin, the Architect of the Capitol, told the House Committee on House Administration that the AOC has reduced overall vacancies and substantially filled executive-level positions since he took office.
Austin said the agency reduced organizational vacancies from about 11 percent to just over 6 percent, moved nearly all executive-level positions from acting or interim status to permanent appointments, and has reduced the number of open Inspector General recommendations from 89 to 37 in six months. “I look forward to your testimony on the status of the open recommendations, on your plans to proactively work alongside the inspector general,” the chairman said; Austin described cooperation with the incoming IG.
Austin also described workforce development initiatives including an apprenticeship program intended to grow skilled trades capacity and recruitment engagements at job fairs. He framed those efforts as part of a longer-term strategy to reduce attrition and preserve institutional knowledge.
On capital planning and maintenance, Austin told the committee the AOC is implementing an enterprise asset management system intended to centralize asset monitoring, enable condition‑based prioritization, forecast resource needs, and translate risk into asset-management strategies. He said the system will improve data-driven fiscal decisions and help prioritize projects designed to reduce a growing maintenance backlog.
Committee members asked for updates on the IG recommendations and on how the asset-management system will affect project prioritization and spending. The AOC said it will continue coordination with the committee and the IG’s office and provide follow-up materials to members’ questions in writing.
