Any government has goals and objectives. The government must set the day's agenda. The public servants must always provide all of the information and all the details. Here we are saying that because of the preoccupation with the budget and the deadline, the executives in charge of Phoenix did not mention that the savings would be less than anticipated.
Whatever the environment may be, there are consequences. It is important that the public servants know what the consequences are and share them with the deputy minister and the minister. They must point out that the results will be different if it is not possible to reach all of the objectives.
There are always objectives, but it is the role of the public servants to explain what is possible and the issues they are facing.