On the first day of his new job President Obama will be faced with a myriad of foreign and domestic challenges.  With the cascade of grim economic news, a failing war and the impatient mindset of the American population, the new chief executive of the government will have to lean more than ever on the skill and dedication of the public servants he leads.

To carry out his duty of chief executive, he is given control of the four million employees of the federal executive branch, including one million active duty personnel in the military. Yet the president is not all-powerful.

While the focus of America will be on the economy at home and the conflicts abroad, newly appointed cabinet secretaries will be busy working on health care reform, maintaining national security, negotiating Middle Eastern peace, monitoring and reacting to situations in North Korea, India and Pakistan, and beginning to work on long-term efforts like global warming and our dependence on foreign oil.

The federal workforce, once responsible for the oversight of over $800 billion federal dollars to react to national disasters, international crises, and to oversee the economy, housing, and public health have seen that number expand exponentially to potentially over $2 trillion including the $700 billion financial bail out and a proposed $825 billion stimulus package. All this while the public confidence in government's ability to deliver is eroding.

The new president has a daunting task to convince the American people that our federal government is up for the task. Unfortunately, a national discourse has not transpired to give greater insight into the myriad of ways government affects our daily lives. Arguably, the lack of attention given to the operations of executive departments helped the past administration ignore the management of these important civilian organizations as well. That is of course until a disaster like the Katrina response brought the issue front and center.

We at OhMyGov! wish Mr. Obama all the best as he begins to lead us in this new chapter in history. The difficulties he faces are unprecedented and the expectations for significant change are high, but we believe the federal workforce is up for the challenge and look forward to being part of it all.

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