[6] She owned three initiatives of the President's Management Agenda: improving financial performance, eliminating improper payments, and real property.

Specifically she focused on financial results in the largest 24 departments and agencies in the United States Federal Government.

[citation needed] Notably, during Combs's tenure at OMB, the Federal CFO community: 1) For the first time in history and for the second straight year successfully accelerated financial reporting so that audited financial statements were published by ever major agency within 45 days of the close of the fiscal year (a pace that significantly bettered private sector reporting and improved on past Government results when agencies had taken as long as 5 months to report);[citation needed] 2) Obtained clean audit opinions in 19 of the 24 largest agencies for two straight years, and decreased the number of material weaknesses by more than 15% despite tougher audit standards (compared to achieving only one clean audit in 1990 and only six in 1996 for those same 24 agencies);[citation needed] 3) Eliminated approximately $9 billion in improper payments — a 17% decrease from 2004.

[8] Combs was previously appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate to the position of Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

As Chief Financial Officer, she was responsible for oversight of the Department’s $57 billion appropriation, the Government Performance and Results Act, as well as general monitoring of programs.

In her role of Operations Officer and Manager of National Direct Student Loans for Wachovia Corporation, Combs was responsible for the general management of National Direct Student Loan Operations, with an expense budget that affected several million dollars of annual revenue.