§501. Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget is an office in the Executive Office of the President.
(
| Revised Section | Source (U.S. Code | Source (Statutes at Large) |
|---|---|---|
| 501 | 31:16(1st sentence). | June 10, 1921, ch. 18, §207(1st sentence), |
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Short Title of 2016 Amendment
Short Title of 1990 Amendment
Transfer of Functions
Disaster Resiliency Planning
"SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
"This Act may be cited as the 'Disaster Resiliency Planning Act'.
"SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
"In this Act:
"(1)
"(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
"(B) the Committee on Oversight and Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives.
"(2)
"(3)
"(4)
"SEC. 3. GUIDANCE.
"(a)
"(b)
"(c)
"(d)
"(1) the Comptroller General of the United States;
"(2) the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and
"(3) any other relevant entities, as determined by the Director.
"(e)
"(1)
"(2)
Disaster Relief Funding Guidance
"(1) Robust criteria for identifying and documenting incremental risks and mitigating controls related to the funding.
"(2) Guidance for documenting the linkage between the incremental risks related to disaster funding and efforts to address known internal control risks."
Publication of Certain Documents
Service Contract Inventory
"(a)
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(A) A description of the services purchased by the executive agency and the role the services played in achieving agency objectives, regardless of whether such a purchase was made through a contract or task order.
"(B) The organizational component of the executive agency administering the contract, and the organizational component of the agency whose requirements are being met through contractor performance of the service.
"(C) The total dollar amount obligated for services under the contract and the funding source for the contract.
"(D) The total dollar amount invoiced for services under the contract.
"(E) The contract type and date of award.
"(F) The name of the contractor and place of performance.
"(G) The number and work location of contractor and subcontractor employees, expressed as full-time equivalents for direct labor, compensated under the contract.
"(H) Whether the contract is a personal services contract.
"(I) Whether the contract was awarded on a noncompetitive basis, regardless of date of award.
"(b)
"(c)
"(1) make the inventory available to the public; and
"(2) publish in the Federal Register a notice that the inventory is available to the public.
"(d)
"(e)
"(1) review the contracts and information in the inventory;
"(2) ensure that-
"(A) each contract in the inventory that is a personal services contract has been entered into, and is being performed, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations;
"(B) the agency is giving special management attention to functions that are closely associated with inherently governmental functions;
"(C) the agency is not using contractor employees to perform inherently governmental functions;
"(D) the agency has specific safeguards and monitoring systems in place to ensure that work being performed by contractors has not changed or expanded during performance to become an inherently governmental function;
"(E) the agency is not using contractor employees to perform critical functions in such a way that could affect the ability of the agency to maintain control of its mission and operations; and
"(F) there are sufficient internal agency resources to manage and oversee contracts effectively;
"(3) identify contracts that have been poorly performed, as determined by a contracting officer, because of excessive costs or inferior quality; and
"(4) identify contracts that should be considered for conversion to-
"(A) performance by Federal employees of the executive agency in accordance with agency insourcing guidelines required under section 736 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2009 (
"(B) an alternative acquisition approach that would better enable the agency to efficiently utilize its assets and achieve its public mission.
"(f)
"(g)
"(h) GAO
"(1)
"(2)
"(A)
"(B)
"(3)
"(i)
Requirement for Debriefings Related To Conversion of Functions From Performance by Federal Employees to Performance by a Contractor
Comprehensive Analysis and Development of Single Government-Wide Definition of Inherently Governmental Function and Criteria for Critical Functions
"(a)
"(1) review the definitions of the term 'inherently governmental function' described in subsection (b) to determine whether such definitions are sufficiently focused to ensure that only officers or employees of the Federal Government or members of the Armed Forces perform inherently governmental functions or other critical functions necessary for the mission of a Federal department or agency;
"(2) develop a single consistent definition for such term that would-
"(A) address any deficiencies in the existing definitions, as determined pursuant to paragraph (1);
"(B) reasonably apply to all Federal departments and agencies; and
"(C) ensure that the head of each such department or agency is able to identify each position within that department or agency that exercises an inherently governmental function and should only be performed by officers or employees of the Federal Government or members of the Armed Forces;
"(3) develop criteria to be used by the head of each such department or agency to-
"(A) identify critical functions with respect to the unique missions and structure of that department or agency; and
"(B) identify each position within that department or agency that, while the position may not exercise an inherently governmental function, nevertheless should only be performed by officers or employees of the Federal Government or members of the Armed Forces to ensure the department or agency maintains control of its mission and operations;
"(4) in addition to the actions described under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), provide criteria that would identify positions within Federal departments and agencies that are to be performed by officers or employees of the Federal Government or members of the Armed Forces to ensure that the head of each Federal department or agency-
"(A) develops and maintains sufficient organic expertise and technical capability;
"(B) develops guidance to implement the definition of inherently governmental as described in paragraph (2) and the criteria for critical functions as described in paragraph (3) in a manner that is consistent with agency missions and operational goals; and
"(C) develops guidance to manage internal decisions regarding staffing in an integrated manner to ensure officers or employees of the Federal Government or members of the Armed Forces are filling critical management roles by identifying-
"(i) functions, activities, or positions, or some combination thereof, or
"(ii) additional mechanisms and factors, including the management or oversight of awarded contracts, statutory mandates, and international obligations; and
"(5) solicit the views of the public regarding the matters identified in this section.
"(b)
"(1) the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (
"(2) section 2383 of title 10, United States Code [now 10 U.S.C. 4508];
"(3) Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76;
"(4) the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and
"(5) any other relevant Federal law or regulation, as determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in consultation with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council.
"(c)
"(1) A description of the actions taken by the Director under this section to develop a single definition of inherently governmental function and criteria for critical functions.
"(2) Such legislative recommendations as the Director determines are necessary to further the purposes of this section.
"(3) A description of such steps as may be necessary-
"(A) to ensure that the single definition and criteria developed under this section are consistently applied through all Federal regulations, circulars, policy letters, agency guidance, and other documents;
"(B) to repeal any existing Federal regulations, circular, policy letters, agency guidance and other documents determined to be superseded by the definition and criteria developed under this section; and
"(C) to develop any necessary implementing guidance under this section for agency staffing and contracting decisions, along with appropriate milestones.
"(d)
Public-Private Competition
"(a)
"(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds appropriated by this or any other Act shall be available to convert to contractor performance an activity or function of an executive agency that, on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 26, 2007], is performed by Federal employees unless-
"(A) the conversion is based on the result of a public-private competition that includes a most efficient and cost effective organization plan developed by such activity or function;
"(B) the Competitive Sourcing Official determines that, over all performance periods stated in the solicitation of offers for performance of the activity or function, the cost of performance of the activity or function by a contractor would be less costly to the executive agency by an amount that equals or exceeds the lesser of-
"(i) 10 percent of the most efficient organization's personnel-related costs for performance of that activity or function by Federal employees; or
"(ii) $10,000,000; and
"(C) the contractor does not receive an advantage for a proposal that would reduce costs for the Federal Government by-
"(i) not making an employer-sponsored health insurance plan available to the workers who are to be employed in the performance of that activity or function under the contract;
"(ii) offering to such workers an employer-sponsored health benefits plan that requires the employer to contribute less towards the premium or subscription share than the amount that is paid by the Federal Government for health benefits for civilian employees under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code; or
"(iii) offering to such workers a retirement benefit that in any year costs less than the annual retirement cost factor applicable to Federal employees under chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code.
"(2) This paragraph shall not apply to-
"(A) the Department of Defense;
"(B) section 44920 of title 49, United States Code;
"(C) a commercial or industrial type function that-
"(i) is included on the procurement list established pursuant to section 2 of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act ([former] 41 U.S.C. 47) [now 41 U.S.C. 8503]; or
"(ii) is planned to be converted to performance by a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or by a qualified nonprofit agency for other severely handicapped individuals in accordance with that Act [now 41 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.];
"(D) depot contracts or contracts for depot maintenance as provided in sections 2469 and 2474 of title 10, United States Code; or
"(E) activities that are the subject of an ongoing competition that was publicly announced prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 26, 2007].
"(b)
"(1)
"(B) The guidelines and procedures required under subparagraph (A) may not include any specific limitation or restriction on the number of functions or activities that may be converted to performance by Federal employees.
"(2)
"(A) is performed by a contractor and-
"(i) has been performed by Federal employees at any time during the previous 10 years;
"(ii) is a function closely associated with the performance of an inherently governmental function;
"(iii) has been performed pursuant to a contract awarded on a non-competitive basis; or
"(iv) has been performed poorly, as determined by a contracting officer during the 5-year period preceding the date of such determination, because of excessive costs or inferior quality; or
"(B) is a new requirement, with particular emphasis given to a new requirement that is similar to a function previously performed by Federal employees or is a function closely associated with the performance of an inherently governmental function.
"(3)
"(A) in the case of a new agency function, assigning the performance of the function to Federal employees;
"(B) in the case of any agency function described in paragraph (2), converting the function to performance by Federal employees; or
"(C) in the case of an agency function performed by Federal employees, expanding the scope of the function.
"(4)
"(B) Not later than 210 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Government Accountability Office shall submit a report on the implementation of this subsection to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
"(5)
"(A) The term 'inherently governmental functions' has the meaning given such term in subpart 7.5 of part 7 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
"(B) The term 'functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions' means the functions described in section 7.503(d) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
"(6)
"(c)
"(1)
"(A) [Amended section 3551 of this title.]
"(B)(i) [Enacted section 3557 of this title.]
"(ii) [Amended chapter analysis preceding section 3501 of this title.]
"(2) [Amended section 1491 of title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.]
"(3)
"(A) protests and civil actions that challenge final selections of sources of performance of an activity or function of a Federal agency that are made pursuant to studies initiated under Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76 on or after January 1, 2004; and
"(B) any other protests and civil actions that relate to public-private competitions initiated under Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76, or a decision to convert a function performed by Federal employees to private sector performance without a competition under Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 26, 2007].
"(d)
"(A) by the Office of Management and Budget to direct or require another agency to take an action specified in paragraph (2); or
"(B) by an agency to take an action specified in paragraph (2) as a result of direction or requirement from the Office of Management and Budget.
"(2) An action specified in this paragraph is the preparation for, undertaking, continuation of, or completion of a public-private competition or direct conversion under Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76 or any other administrative regulation, directive, or policy.
"(e)
Competitive Sourcing Activities
"(b) Not later than 120 days following the enactment of this Act [Jan. 23, 2004] and not later than December 31 of each year thereafter, the head of each executive agency shall submit to Congress a report on the competitive sourcing activities on the list required under the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (
"(1) the total number of competitions completed;
"(2) the total number of competitions announced, together with a list of the activities covered by such competitions;
"(3) the total number (expressed as a full-time employee equivalent number) of the Federal employees studied under completed competitions;
"(4) the total number (expressed as a full-time employee equivalent number) of the Federal employees that are being studied under competitions announced but not completed;
"(5) the incremental cost directly attributable to conducting the competitions identified under paragraphs (1) and (2), including costs attributable to paying outside consultants and contractors;
"(6) an estimate of the total anticipated savings, or a quantifiable description of improvements in service or performance, derived from completed competitions;
"(7) actual savings, or a quantifiable description of improvements in service or performance, derived from the implementation of competitions completed after May 29, 2003;
"(8) the total projected number (expressed as a full-time employee equivalent number) of the Federal employees that are to be covered by competitions scheduled to be announced in the fiscal year covered by the next report required under this section; and
"(9) a general description of how the competitive sourcing decisionmaking processes of the executive agency are aligned with the strategic workforce plan of that executive agency.
"(d) Hereafter, the head of an executive agency may expend funds appropriated or otherwise made available for any purpose to the executive agency under this or any other Act to monitor (in the administration of responsibilities under Office of Management and Budget Circular A–76 or any related policy, directive, or regulation) the performance of an activity or function of the executive agency that has previously been subjected to a public-private competition under such circular.
"(f) In this section, the term 'executive agency' has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act ([former] 41 U.S.C. 403) [see 41 U.S.C. 133]."
"(a)
"(2) Paragraph (1) applies to programs, projects, and activities-
"(A) of the Department of the Interior for which funds are appropriated by this Act [see Tables for classification];
"(B) of the Forest Service; and
"(C) of the Department of Energy for which funds are appropriated by this Act.
[(b) Repealed.
"(f)
Study of Policies and Procedures for Transfer of Commercial Activities
Use of Private Enterprises
"(a)
"(b)
"(1)
"(2)
Federal Activities Inventory Reform
"SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
"This Act may be cited as the 'Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998'.
"SEC. 2. ANNUAL LISTS OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES NOT INHERENTLY GOVERNMENTAL IN NATURE.
"(a)
"(1) The fiscal year for which the activity first appeared on a list prepared under this section.
"(2) The number of full-time employees (or its equivalent) that are necessary for the performance of the activity by a Federal Government source.
"(3) The name of a Federal Government employee responsible for the activity from whom additional information about the activity may be obtained.
"(b)
"(c)
"(1)
"(A) the head of the executive agency shall promptly transmit a copy of the list to Congress and make the list available to the public; and
"(B) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall promptly publish in the Federal Register a notice that the list is available to the public.
"(2)
"(A) make each such change available to the public and transmit a copy of the change to Congress; and
"(B) publish in the Federal Register a notice that the change is available to the public.
"(d)
"(e)
"SEC. 3. CHALLENGES TO THE LIST.
"(a)
"(b)
"(1) A private sector source that-
"(A) is an actual or prospective offeror for any contract, or other form of agreement, to perform the activity; and
"(B) has a direct economic interest in performing the activity that would be adversely affected by a determination not to procure the performance of the activity from a private sector source.
"(2) A representative of any business or professional association that includes within its membership private sector sources referred to in paragraph (1).
"(3) An officer or employee of an organization within an executive agency that is an actual or prospective offeror to perform the activity.
"(4) The head of any labor organization referred to in section 7103(a)(4) of title 5, United States Code, that includes within its membership officers or employees of an organization referred to in paragraph (3).
"(c)
"(d)
"(1) decide the challenge; and
"(2) transmit to the party submitting the challenge a written notification of the decision together with a discussion of the rationale for the decision and an explanation of the party's right to appeal under subsection (e).
"(e)
"(1)
"(2)
"SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.
"(a)
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(b)
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(4)
"(5) Executive agencies with fewer than 100 full-time employees as of the first day of the fiscal year. However, such an agency shall be subject to section 2 to the extent it plans to conduct a public-private competition for the performance of an activity that is not inherently governmental.
"SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
"In this Act:
"(1)
"(2)
"(A)
"(B)
"(i) to bind the United States to take or not to take some action by contract, policy, regulation, authorization, order, or otherwise;
"(ii) to determine, protect, and advance United States economic, political, territorial, property, or other interests by military or diplomatic action, civil or criminal judicial proceedings, contract management, or otherwise;
"(iii) to significantly affect the life, liberty, or property of private persons;
"(iv) to commission, appoint, direct, or control officers or employees of the United States; or
"(v) to exert ultimate control over the acquisition, use, or disposition of the property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the United States, including the collection, control, or disbursement of appropriated and other Federal funds.
"(C)
"(i) gathering information for or providing advice, opinions, recommendations, or ideas to Federal Government officials; or
"(ii) any function that is primarily ministerial and internal in nature (such as building security, mail operations, operation of cafeterias, housekeeping, facilities operations and maintenance, warehouse operations, motor vehicle fleet management operations, or other routine electrical or mechanical services).
"SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
"This Act shall take effect on October 1, 1998."
Purpose of Amendments by Pub. L. 104–316
Department of Commerce Franchise Fund Pilot
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts:
Department of the Interior Franchise Fund Pilot
Department of Veterans Affairs Franchise Fund Pilot
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts:
Department of Homeland Security Working Capital Fund
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts:
"(a) Section 504 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2017 (division F of
"(b) Funds from such working capital fund may be obligated and expended in anticipation of reimbursements from components of the Department of Homeland Security."
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts:
[For transfer of all functions, personnel, assets, components, authorities, grant programs, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emergency Management relating thereto, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, see section 315(a)(1) of Title 6, Domestic Security.]
[For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see former section 313(1) and sections 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.]
Franchise Fund Pilot Programs
"(a)
"(b)
"(c)
"(2) Fees for services shall be established by the head of the agency at a level to cover the total estimated costs of providing such services. Such fees shall be deposited in the agency's fund to remain available until expended, and may be used to carry out the purposes of the fund.
"(3) Existing inventories, including inventories on order, equipment, and other assets or liabilities pertaining to the purposes of the fund may be transferred to the fund.
"(d)
"(1) the structure of the fund;
"(2) the composition of the funding mechanism;
"(3) the capacity of the fund to promote competition; and
"(4) the desirability of extending the application and implementation of franchise funds to other Federal agencies.
"(e)
"(f)
[
[
[
[
Simplification of Management Reporting Process
"(a)
"(1) chapters 5, 9, 11, 33, 35, 37, 39, 75, and 91 of title 31, United States Code;
"(2) the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note;
"(b)
"(c)
"(1) consultation with the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability]; and
"(2) written notification to the Congress, no later than February 8 of each fiscal year covered under subsection (b) for those reports required to be submitted during that fiscal year."
Findings and Purposes of Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990
"(a)
"(1) General management functions of the Office of Management and Budget need to be significantly enhanced to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal Government.
"(2) Financial management functions of the Office of Management and Budget need to be significantly enhanced to provide overall direction and leadership in the development of a modern Federal financial management structure and associated systems.
"(3) Billions of dollars are lost each year through fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement among the hundreds of programs in the Federal Government.
"(4) These losses could be significantly decreased by improved management, including improved central coordination of internal controls and financial accounting.
"(5) The Federal Government is in great need of fundamental reform in financial management requirements and practices as financial management systems are obsolete and inefficient, and do not provide complete, consistent, reliable, and timely information.
"(6) Current financial reporting practices of the Federal Government do not accurately disclose the current and probable future cost of operating and investment decisions, including the future need for cash or other resources, do not permit adequate comparison of actual costs among executive agencies, and do not provide the timely information required for efficient management of programs.
"(b)
"(1) Bring more effective general and financial management practices to the Federal Government through statutory provisions which would establish in the Office of Management and Budget a Deputy Director for Management, establish an Office of Federal Financial Management headed by a Controller, and designate a Chief Financial Officer in each executive department and in each major executive agency in the Federal Government.
"(2) Provide for improvement, in each agency of the Federal Government, of systems of accounting, financial management, and internal controls to assure the issuance of reliable financial information and to deter fraud, waste, and abuse of Government resources.
"(3) Provide for the production of complete, reliable, timely, and consistent financial information for use by the executive branch of the Government and the Congress in the financing, management, and evaluation of Federal programs."
Duties and Functions of Department of the Treasury
Executive Documents
Emergency Preparedness Functions
For assignment of certain emergency preparedness functions to Director of the Office of Management and Budget, see Parts 1, 2, and 28 of Ex. Ord. No. 12656, Nov. 18, 1988, 53 F.R. 47491, set out as a note under section 5195 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.
REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 2 OF 1970
Eff. July 1, 1970, 35 F.R. 7959, 84 Stat. 2085 , as amended
Pub. L. 97–258, §5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068
, 1085
Prepared by the President and Transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress Assembled March 12, 1970, Pursuant to the Provisions of Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the United States Code.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET; DOMESTIC COUNCIL
PART I. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Section 101. Transfer of functions to the President
There are hereby transferred to the President of the United States all functions vested by law (including reorganization plan) in the Bureau of the Budget or the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.
Sec. 102. Office of Management and Budget
[Repealed.
Sec. 103. Records, Property, Personnel, and Funds
[Repealed.
PART II. DOMESTIC COUNCIL
Sec. 201. Establishment of the Council
(a) There is hereby established in the Executive Office of the President a Domestic Council, hereinafter referred to as the Council.
(b) The Council shall be composed of the following:
The President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States
The Attorney General
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of the Treasury
and such other officers of the Executive Branch as the President may from time to time direct.
(c) The President of the United States shall preside over meetings of the Council: Provided, That, in the event of his absence, he may designate a member of the Council to preside.
Sec. 202. Functions of the Council
The Council shall perform such functions as the President may from time to time delegate or assign thereto.
Sec. 203. Executive Director
The staff of the Council shall be headed by an Executive Director who shall be an assistant to the President designated by the President. The Executive Director shall perform such functions as the President may from time to time direct.
PART III. TAKING EFFECT
Sec. 301. Effective Date
The provisions of this reorganization plan shall take effect as provided by section 906(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, or on July 1, 1970, whichever is later.
Message of the President
To the Congress of the United States:
We in government often are quick to call for reform in other institutions, but slow to reform ourselves. Yet nowhere today is modern management more needed than in government itself.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed and the Congress accepted a reorganization plan that laid the groundwork for providing managerial assistance for a modern Presidency.
The plan placed the Bureau of the Budget within the Executive Office of the President. It made available to the President direct access to important new management instruments. The purpose of the plan was to improve the administration of the Government-to ensure that the Government could perform "promptly, effectively, without waste or lost motion."
Fulfilling that purpose today is far more difficult-and more important-than it was 30 years ago.
Last April, I created a President's Advisory Council on Executive Organization and named to it a distinguished group of outstanding experts headed by Roy L. Ash. I gave the Council a broad charter to examine ways in which the Executive Branch could be better organized. I asked it to recommend specific organizational changes that would make the Executive Branch a more vigorous and more effective instrument for creating and carrying out the programs that are needed today. The Council quickly concluded that the place to begin was in the Executive Office of the President itself. I agree.
The past 30 years have seen enormous changes in the size, structure and functions of the Federal Government. The budget has grown from less than $10 billion to $200 billion. The number of civilian employees has risen from one million to more than two and a half million. Four new Cabinet departments have been created, along with more than a score of independent agencies. Domestic policy issues have become increasingly complex. The interrelationships among Government programs have become more intricate. Yet the organization of the President's policy and management arms has not kept pace.
Over three decades, the Executive Office of the President has mushroomed but not by conscious design. In many areas it does not provide the kind of staff assistance and support the President needs in order to deal with the problems of government in the 1970s. We confront the 1970s with a staff organization geared in large measure to the tasks of the 1940s and 1950s.
One result, over the years, has been a tendency to enlarge the immediate White House staff-that is, the President's personal staff, as distinct from the institutional structure-to assist with management functions for which the President is responsible. This has blurred the distinction between personal staff and management institutions; it has left key management functions to be performed only intermittently and some not at all. It has perpetuated outdated structures.
Another result has been, paradoxically, to inhibit the delegation of authority to Departments and agencies.
A President whose programs are carefully coordinated, whose information system keeps him adequately informed, and whose organizational assignments are plainly set out, can delegate authority with security and confidence. A President whose office is deficient in these respects will be inclined, instead, to retain close control of operating responsibilities which he cannot and should not handle.
Improving the management processes of the President's own office, therefore, is a key element in improving the management of the entire Executive Branch, and in strengthening the authority of its Departments and agencies. By providing the tools that are needed to reduce duplication, to monitor performance and to promote greater efficiency throughout the Executive Branch, this also will enable us to give the country not only more effective but also more economical government-which it deserves.
To provide the management tools and policy mechanisms needed for the 1970s, I am today transmitting to the Congress Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970, prepared in accordance with Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the United States Code.
This plan draws not only on the work of the Ash Council itself, but also on the work of others that preceded-including the pioneering Brownlow Committee of 1936, the two Hoover Commissions, the Rockefeller Committee, and other Presidential task forces.
Essentially, the plan recognizes that two closely connected but basically separate functions both center in the President's office: policy determination and executive management. This involves (1) what government should do, and (2) how it goes about doing it.
My proposed reorganization creates a new entity to deal with each of these functions:
-It establishes a Domestic Council, to coordinate policy formulation in the domestic area. This Cabinet group would be provided with an institutional staff, and to a considerable degree would be a domestic counterpart to the National Security Council.
-It establishes an Office of Management and Budget, which would be the President's principal arm for the exercise of his managerial functions.
The Domestic Council will be primarily concerned with what we do; the Office of Management and Budget will be primarily concerned with how we do it, and how well we do it.
DOMESTIC COUNCIL
The past year's experience with the Council for Urban Affairs has shown how immensely valuable a Cabinet-level council can be as a forum for both discussion and action on policy matters that cut across departmental jurisdictions.
The Domestic Council will be chaired by the President. Under the plan, its membership will include the Vice President, and the Secretaries of the Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health, Education and Welfare, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation, and the Attorney General. I also intend to designate as members the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and, while he remains a member of the Cabinet, the Postmaster General. (Although I continue to hope that the Congress will adopt my proposal to create, in place of the Post Office Department, a self-sufficient postal authority.) The President could add other Executive Branch officials at his discretion.
The Council will be supported by a staff under an Executive Director who will also be one of the President's assistants. Like the National Security Council staff, this staff will work in close coordination with the President's personal staff but will have its own institutional identity. By being established on a permanent, institutional basis, it will be designed to develop and employ the "institutional memory" so essential if continuity is to be maintained, and if experience is to play its proper role in the policy-making process.
There does not now exist an organized, institutionally-staffed group charged with advising the President on the total range of domestic policy. The Domestic Council will fill that need. Under the President's direction, it will also be charged with integrating the various aspects of domestic policy into a consistent whole.
Among the specific policy functions in which I intend the Domestic Council to take the lead are these:
-Assessing national needs, collecting information and developing forecasts, for the purpose of defining national goals and objectives.
-Identifying alternative ways of achieving these objectives, and recommending consistent, integrated sets of policy choices.
-Providing rapid response to Presidential needs for policy advice on pressing domestic issues.
-Coordinating the establishment of national priorities for the allocation of available resources.
-Maintaining a continuous review of the conduct of ongoing programs from a policy standpoint, and proposing reforms as needed.
Much of the Council's work will be accomplished by temporary, ad hoc project committees. These might take a variety of forms, such as task forces, planning groups or advisory bodies. They can be established with varying degrees of formality, and can be set up to deal either with broad program areas or with specific problems. The committees will draw for staff support on Department and agency experts, supplemented by the Council's own staff and that of the Office of Management and Budget.
Establishment of the Domestic Council draws on the experience gained during the past year with the Council for Urban Affairs, the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and the Council for Rural Affairs. The principal key to the operation of these Councils has been the effective functioning of their various subcommittees. The Councils themselves will be consolidated into the Domestic Council; Urban, Rural and Environment subcommittees of the Domestic Council will be strengthened, using access to the Domestic Council staff.
Overall, the Domestic Council will provide the President with a streamlined, consolidated domestic policy arm, adequately staffed, and highly flexible in its operation. It also will provide a structure through which departmental initiatives can be more fully considered, and expert advice from the Departments and agencies more fully utilized.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Under the reorganization plan, the technical and formal means by which the Office of Management and Budget is created is by re-designating the Bureau of the Budget as the Office of Management and Budget. The functions currently vested by law in the Bureau, or in its director, are transferred to the President, with the provision that he can then re-delegate them.
As soon as the reorganization plan takes effect, I intend to delegate those statutory functions to the Director of the new Office of Management and Budget, including those under section 212 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 [31 U.S.C. 1113].
However, creation of the Office of Management and Budget represents far more than a mere change of name for the Bureau of the Budget. It represents a basic change in concept and emphasis, reflecting the broader management needs of the Office of the President.
The new Office will still perform the key function of assisting the President in the preparation of the annual Federal budget and overseeing its execution. It will draw upon the skills and experience of the extraordinarily able and dedicated career staff developed by the Bureau of the Budget. But preparation of the budget as such will no longer be its dominant, overriding concern.
While the budget function remains a vital tool of management, it will be strengthened by the greater emphasis the new office will place on fiscal analysis. The budget function is only one of several important management tools that the President must now have. He must also have a substantially enhanced institutional staff capability in other areas of executive management-particularly in program evaluation and coordination, improvement of Executive Branch organization, information and management systems, and development of executive talent. Under this plan, strengthened capability in these areas will be provided partly through internal reorganization, and it will also require additional staff resources.
The new Office of Management and Budget will place much greater emphasis on the evaluation of program performance: on assessing the extent to which programs are actually achieving their intended results, and delivering the intended services to the intended recipients. This is needed on a continuing basis, not as a one-time effort. Program evaluation will remain a function of the individual agencies as it is today. However, a single agency cannot fairly be expected to judge overall effectiveness in programs that cross agency lines-and the difference between agency and Presidential perspectives requires a capacity in the Executive Office to evaluate program performance whenever appropriate.
The new Office will expand efforts to improve interagency cooperation in the field. Washington-based coordinators will help work out interagency problems at the operating level, and assist in developing efficient coordinating mechanisms throughout the country. The success of these efforts depends on the experience, persuasion, and understanding of an Office which will be an expediter and catalyst. The Office will also respond to requests from State and local governments for assistance on intergovernmental programs. It will work closely with the Vice President and the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
Improvement of Government organization, information and management systems will be a major function of the Office of Management and Budget. It will maintain a continuous review of the organizational structures and management processes of the Executive Branch, and recommend needed changes. It will take the lead in developing new information systems to provide the President with the performance and other data that he needs but does not now get. When new programs are launched, it will seek to ensure that they are not simply forced into or grafted onto existing organizational structures that may not be appropriate. Resistance to organizational change is one of the chief obstacles to effective government; the new Office will seek to ensure that organization keeps abreast of program needs.
The new Office will also take the lead in devising programs for the development of career executive talent throughout the Government. Not the least of the President's needs as Chief Executive is direct capability in the Executive Office for insuring that talented executives are used to the full extent of their abilities. Effective, coordinated efforts for executive manpower development have been hampered by the lack of a system for forecasting the needs for executive talent and appraising leadership potential. Both are crucial to the success of an enterprise-whether private or public.
The Office of Management and Budget will be charged with advising the President on the development of new programs to recruit, train, motivate, deploy, and evaluate the men and women who make up the top ranks of the civil service, in the broadest sense of that term. It will not deal with individuals, but will rely on the talented professionals of the Civil Service Commission and the Departments and agencies themselves to administer these programs. Under the leadership of the Office of Management and Budget there will be joint efforts to see to it that all executive talent is well utilized wherever it may be needed throughout the Executive Branch, and to assure that executive training and motivation meet not only today's needs but those of the years ahead.
Finally, the new Office will continue the Legislative Reference functions now performed by the Bureau of the Budget, drawing together agency reactions on all proposed legislation, and helping develop legislation to carry out the President's program. It also will continue the Bureau's work of improving and coordinating Federal statistical services.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHANGES
The people deserve a more responsive and more effective Government. The times require it. These changes will help provide it.
Each reorganization included in the plan which accompanies this message is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in Section 901(a) of Title 5 of the United States Code. In particular, the plan is responsive to Section 901(a)(1), "to promote the better execution of the laws, the more effective management of the Executive Branch and of its agencies and functions, and the expeditious administration of the public business;" and Section 901(a)(3), "to increase the efficiency of the operations of the Government to the fullest extent practicable."
The reorganizations provided for in this plan make necessary the appointment and compensation of new officers, as specified in Section 102(c) of the plan. The rates of compensation fixed for these officers are comparable to those fixed for other officers in the Executive Branch who have similar responsibilities.
While this plan will result in a modest increase in direct expenditures, its strengthening of the Executive Office of the President will bring significant indirect savings, and at the same time will help ensure that people actually receive the return they deserve for every dollar the Government spends. The savings will result from the improved efficiency these changes will provide throughout the Executive Branch-and also from curtailing the waste that results when programs simply fail to achieve their objectives. It is not practical, however, to itemize or aggregate these indirect expenditure reductions which will result from the reorganization.
I expect to follow with other reorganization plans, quite possibly including ones that will affect other activities of the Executive Office of the President. Our studies are continuing. But this by itself is a reorganization of major significance, and a key to the more effective functioning of the entire Executive Branch.
These changes would provide an improved system of policy making and coordination, a strengthened capacity to perform those functions that are now the central concerns of the Bureau of the Budget, and a more effective set of management tools for the performance of other functions that have been rapidly increasing in importance.
The reorganization will not only improve the staff resources available to the President, but will also strengthen the advisory roles of those members of the Cabinet principally concerned with domestic affairs. By providing a means of formulating integrated and systematic recommendations on major domestic policy issues, the plan serves not only the needs of the President but also the interests of the Congress.
This reorganization plan is of major importance to the functioning of modern government. The national interest requires it. I urge that the Congress allow it to become effective.
Richard Nixon.
Abolition of Domestic Council
Domestic Council, established by Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1970, §201, eff. July 1, 1970, 35 F.R. 7959,
Ex. Ord. No. 11541. Prescribing Duties of Office of Management and Budget and Domestic Council
Ex. Ord. No. 11541, July 1, 1970, 35 F.R. 10737, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12013, Oct. 7, 1977, 42 F.R. 54931; Ex. Ord. No. 12027, Dec. 5, 1977, 42 F.R. 61851; Ex. Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055; Ex. Ord. No. 12318, Aug. 21, 1981, 46 F.R. 42833, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan") [set out as a note under this section], it is ordered as follows:
(b) All outstanding delegations, rules, regulations, orders, circulars, bulletins, or other forms of Executive or administrative action issued or taken by or relating to the Bureau of the Budget or the Director of the Bureau of the Budget prior to the effective date of this order shall, until amended or revoked, remain in full force and effect as if issued or taken by or relating to the Office of Management and Budget or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(c) The delegation to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section, of the functions vested in the Director of the Bureau of the Budget by Section 103 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 18b) [31 U.S.C. 1104(d)] and subsequently transferred to the President by Part I of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (5 U.S.C. App.), shall be implemented in accord with Section 3(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (
(d) The delegation to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the following executive development and personnel functions (which have been transferred to the Office of Personnel Management) is terminated on December 4, 1977:
(1) Providing overall Executive Branch leadership, regulation, and guidance in executive personnel selection, development and management.
(2) Studying and reporting on issues relating to position classification and the compensation of Federal civilian employees, including linkages among pay systems, and providing reports on average grade levels, work-years and personnel costs of Federal civilian employees.
(3) Providing primary Executive Branch leadership in (i) developing and reviewing a program of policy guidance to departments and agencies for the organization of management responsibility under the Federal Labor Relations program; and (ii) monitoring issues and trends in labor management relations for referral to appropriate Executive Branch officials including the Federal Labor Relations Council.
(b) The organizations listed herein are terminated and the functions heretofore assigned to them shall be performed by the Domestic Council:
Council for Urban Affairs (Executive Order No. 11452 of January 23, 1969)
Cabinet Committee on the Environment (Executive Order No. 11472 of May 29, 1969, as amended by Executive Order No. 11514 of March 5, 1970)
Council for Rural Affairs (Executive Order No. 11493 of November 13, 1969)
Supersedure of Ex. Ord. No. 11541
Supersedure of Ex. Ord. No. 11541 to the extent that it is inconsistent with Ex. Ord. No. 11609, July 22, 1971, 36 F.R. 13747, see section 11(6) of Ex. Ord. No. 11609, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President; with Ex. Ord. No. 11713, Apr. 21, 1973, 38 F.R. 10069, see section 3 of Ex. Ord. No. 11713, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3; with Ex. Ord. No. 11717, May 9, 1973, 38 F.R. 12315, see section 5 of Ex. Ord. No. 11717, set out below.
Executive Order No. 11647
Ex. Ord. No. 11647, Feb. 10, 1972, 37 F.R. 3167, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 11731, July 23, 1973, 38 F.R. 19903; Ex. Ord. No. 11892, Dec. 31, 1975, 41 F.R. 751; Ex. Ord. No. 12038, Feb. 3, 1978, 43 F.R. 4957, which established Federal Regional Councils, was revoked by section 1–307 of Ex. Ord. No. 12149, July 20, 1979, 44 F.R. 43248.
Ex. Ord. No. 11717. Transfer of Certain Functions From Office of Management and Budget to General Services Administration and Department of Commerce
Ex. Ord. No. 11717, May 9, 1973, 38 F.R. 12315, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and Statutes of the United States, particularly by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, as amended, the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, as amended, and Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 [set out as a note above], it is hereby ordered as follows:
(1) The Financial Management Branch, the Procurement and Property Management Branch, and the Management Systems Branch of the Organization and Management Systems Division; and
(2) the Management Information and Computer Systems Division with respect to policy control over automatic data processing (except those functions relating to the establishment of Government-wide automatic data-processing standards).
(b) The functions vested in the President by the first sentence of section 111(g) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended [former 40 U.S.C. 759(g)], with respect to fiscal control of automatic data processing activities shall continue to be performed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. No function vested by statute in the Director shall be deemed to be affected by the provisions of this order.
Richard Nixon.
Supersedure of Ex. Ord. No. 11717
Ex. Ord. No. 11717 superseded to the extent that it is inconsistent with Ex. Ord. No. 11893, Dec. 31, 1975, 41 F.R. 1040, see section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 11893, set out as a note under section 4252 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.
Executive Order No. 12013
Ex. Ord. No. 12013, Oct. 7, 1977, 42 F.R. 54931, which related to transfer of certain statistical functions and the establishment of the Statistical Policy Coordination Committee, was revoked by section 4(a) of Ex. Ord. No. 12318, Aug. 21, 1981, 46 F.R. 42833, set out below.
Ex. Ord. No. 12027. Transfer of Certain Executive Development and Other Personnel Functions
Ex. Ord. No. 12027, Dec. 5, 1977, 42 F.R. 61851, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12107, Dec. 28, 1978, 44 F.R. 1055, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (5 U.S.C. App.), Section 202 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 581c) [31 U.S.C. 1531], and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States of America, in order to transfer certain functions from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to the Office of Personnel Management, it is hereby ordered as follows:
(a) Providing overall Executive Branch leadership, regulation, and guidance in executive personnel selection, development, and management including:
(1) Devising and establishing programs and encouraging agencies to devise and establish programs to forecast the need for career executive talent and to select, train, develop, motivate, deploy and evaluate the men and women who make up the top ranks of Federal civil service;
(2) Initiating and leading efforts to ensure that potential executive talent is identified, developed and well utilized throughout the Executive Branch and;
(3) Ensuring that executive training and motivation meet current and future needs.
(b) Studying and reporting on issues relating to position classification and the compensation of Federal civilian employees, including linkages among pay systems, and providing reports on average grade levels, work-years and personnel costs of Federal civilian employees.
(c) Providing primary Executive Branch leadership in (1) developing and reviewing a program of policy guidance to departments and agencies for the organization of management's responsibility under the Federal Labor Relations program; and (2) monitoring issues and trends in labor management relations for referral to appropriate Executive Branch officials including the Federal Labor Relations Council.
"(d) The delegation to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the following executive development and personnel functions (which have been transferred to the Office of Personnel Management) is terminated on December 4, 1977:
"(1) Providing overall Executive Branch leadership, regulation, and guidance in executive personnel selection, development and management.
"(2) Studying and reporting on issues relating to position classification and the compensation of Federal civilian employees, including linkages among pay systems, and providing reports on average grade levels, work-years and personnel costs of Federal civilian employees.
"(3) Providing primary Executive Branch leadership in (i) developing and reviewing a program of policy guidance to departments and agencies for the organization of management responsibility under the Federal Labor Relations program; and (ii) monitoring issues and trends in labor management relations for referral to appropriate Executive Branch officials including the Federal Labor Relations Council.".
"The Office of Personnel Management, in conjunction with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall establish and maintain a program for the policy guidance of agencies on labor-management relations in the Federal service and shall periodically review the implementation of these policies. The Office of Personnel Management shall be responsible for the day-to-day policy guidance under that program. The Office of Personnel Management also shall continuously review the operation of the Federal labor-management relations program to assist in assuring adherence to its provisions and merit system requirements; implement technical advice and information programs for the agencies; assist in the development of programs for training agency personnel and management officials in labor-management relations; and, from time to time, report to the Council on the state of the program with any recommendations for its improvement.".
Jimmy Carter.
Executive Order No. 12074
Ex. Ord. No. 12074, Aug. 16, 1978, 43 F.R. 36875, which related to urban and community impact analyses, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12350, Mar. 9, 1982, 47 F.R. 10503.
Executive Order No. 12149
Ex. Ord. No. 12149, July 20, 1979, 44 F.R. 43247, which established Federal Regional Councils, was revoked by section 4(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 12314, July 22, 1981, 46 F.R. 38330.
Executive Order No. 12301
Executive Order No. 12301, Mar. 26, 1981, 46 F.R. 19211, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13118, §10(5), Mar. 31, 1999, 64 F.R. 16598, which established the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency in Federal programs, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12625, Jan. 27, 1988, 53 F.R. 2812, formerly set out below.
Executive Order No. 12314
Ex. Ord. No. 12314, July 22, 1981, 46 F.R. 38329, which established Federal Regional Councils, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12407, Feb. 22, 1983, 48 F.R. 7717.
Ex. Ord. No. 12318. Transfer of Certain Statistical Policy Functions
Ex. Ord. No. 12318, Aug. 21, 1981, 46 F.R. 42833, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (5 U.S.C. App.), Section 202 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 581c) [31 U.S.C. 1531], Section 3(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (
(a) "Secretary of Commerce" is deleted in Section 1 and "Director of the Office of Management and Budget" is substituted therefor.
(b) "Secretary" is deleted wherever it appears in Sections 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 and "Director" is substituted therefor.
(c) "Department of Commerce" is deleted in Section 6 and "Office of Management and Budget" is substituted therefor.
(d) Section 7 is deleted and a new Section 7 is substituted therefor as follows:
(e) Section 8 is revoked.
(a) "Secretary of Commerce, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary,", is deleted in Section 1 and "Director of the Office of Management and Budget, hereinafter referred to as the Director,", is substituted therefor.
(b) "Secretary" is deleted wherever it appears in Sections 2(a), 2(b), 2(c), 3, 4, and 5 and "Director" is substituted therefor.
(c) Section 7 is revoked.
(b) Section 4 of Executive Order No. 11961, as amended [22 U.S.C. 3101 note], is further amended by deleting "the Secretary of Commerce shall perform the functions set forth in Sections 4(a)(3) and 5(c) of the Act" [22 U.S.C. 3103(a)(3), 3104(c)], and substituting therefor "the Secretary of Commerce shall perform the function of making periodic reports to the Committees of the Congress as set forth in Section 4(a)(3) of the Act" [22 U.S.C. 3103(a)(3)].
Ronald Reagan.
Executive Order No. 12479
Ex. Ord. No. 12479, May 24, 1984, 49 F.R. 22243, which established President's Council on Management Improvement, assigned functions of Council and responsibilities of Chairman, and provided for administrative support, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12816, Oct. 14, 1992, 57 F.R. 47562, formerly set below.
Executive Order No. 12552
Ex. Ord. No. 12552, Feb. 25, 1986, 51 F.R. 7041, which provided for establishment of a comprehensive program for improvement of productivity throughout all Executive departments and agencies, was superseded by Ex. Ord. No. 12637, Apr. 27, 1988, 53 F.R. 15349, formerly set out below, and was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13048, §5, June 10, 1997, 62 F.R. 32469, set out below.
Ex. Ord. No. 12615. Performance of Commercial Activities
Ex. Ord. No. 12615, Nov. 19, 1987, 52 F.R. 44853, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to facilitate ongoing efforts to ensure that the Federal Government acquires needed goods and services in the most economical and efficient manner, it is hereby ordered as follows:
(a) Ensure that new Federal Government requirements for commercial activities are provided by private industry, except where statute or national security requires government performance or where private industry costs are unreasonable;
(b) Identify by April 29, 1988, in cooperation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget all commercial activities currently performed by government. The department and agency heads are encouraged to consult with the President's Commission on Privatization in making such identification;
(c) Schedule, by June 30, 1988, all commercial activities identified pursuant to subsection (b) for study in accordance with the procedures of OMB Circular No. A–76, as revised, and the Supplement thereto, to determine whether they could be performed more economically by private industry;
(d) Meet the study goals for Fiscal Year 1988 set forth in "Management of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1988"; and thereafter, beginning with Fiscal Year 1989, conduct annual studies of not less than 3 percent of the department or agency's total civilian population, until all identified potential commercial activities have been studied;
(e) Include in each annual budget proposal to the Office of Management and Budget estimates of expected yearly budget savings from the privatization of commercial activities projected to be accomplished following the completion of scheduled studies, unless an exception is authorized by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. These estimates shall be based on analysis of savings under previous studies and estimated savings to be achieved from future conversions to contract. A department or agency proposal may reflect retention of expected first-year savings as negotiated with the Office of Management and Budget for use as incentive compensation to reward employees covered by the studies for their productivity efforts, or for use in other productivity enhancement projects;
(f) Develop and maintain an effective job placement program for government employees affected by privatization initiatives and cooperate fully in interagency placement efforts;
(g) Designate a senior-level official to coordinate the OMB Circular No. A–76 studies and other privatization efforts; and
(h) Report to the President on progress each quarter, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(a) Issue guidance to departments and agencies to implement this Order. Such guidance shall be designed to ensure an equitable cost comparison of government-operated commercial activities with private industry performance of the same activities, and to improve the efficiency in the conduct of studies;
(b) Publish for public review (i) not later than 30 days after its completion, the inventory of commercial activities identified pursuant to section 1(b) and the activities scheduled for study by departments and agencies in Fiscal Year 1988 pursuant to section 1(c); and (ii) not later than 30 days before the start of each successive fiscal year, the list of activities to be reviewed during that year pursuant to section 1(d); and
(c) Establish a tracking system to monitor, on a quarterly basis, progress by departments and agencies in carrying out this Order.
Ronald Reagan.
Executive Order No. 12625
Ex. Ord. No. 12625, Jan. 27, 1988, 53 F.R. 2812, which established President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency as an interagency committee, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12805, May 11, 1992, 57 F.R. 20627, formerly set out below.
Executive Order No. 12637
Ex. Ord. No. 12637, Apr. 27, 1988, 53 F.R. 15349, which established a productivity improvement program for the Federal Government, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13048, §5, June 10, 1997, 62 F.R. 32469, set out below.
Ex. Ord. No. 12803. Infrastructure Privatization
Ex. Ord. No. 12803, Apr. 30, 1992, 57 F.R. 19063, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to ensure that the United States achieves the most beneficial economic use of its resources, it is hereby ordered as follows:
(a) "Privatization" means the disposition or transfer of an infrastructure asset, such as by sale or by long-term lease, from a State or local government to a private party.
(b) "Infrastructure asset" means any asset financed in whole or in part by the Federal Government and needed for the functioning of the economy. Examples of such assets include, but are not limited to: roads, tunnels, bridges, electricity supply facilities, mass transit, rail transportation, airports, ports, waterways, water supply facilities, recycling and wastewater treatment facilities, solid waste disposal facilities, housing, schools, prisons, and hospitals.
(c) "Originally authorized purposes" means the general objectives of the original grant program; however, the term is not intended to include every condition required for a grantee to have obtained the original grant.
(d) "Transfer price" means: (i) the amount paid or to be paid by a private party for an infrastructure asset, if the asset is transferred as a result of competitive bidding; or (ii) the appraised value of an infrastructure asset, as determined by the head of the executive department or agency and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, if the asset is not transferred as a result of competitive bidding.
(e) "State and local governments" means the government of any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, and any county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, school district, special district, intrastate district, regional or interstate governmental entity, council of governments, and any agency or instrumentality of a local government, and any federally recognized Indian Tribe.
(b) Private enterprise and competitively driven improvements are the foundation of our Nation's economy and economic growth. Federal financing of infrastructure assets should not act as a barrier to the achievement of economic efficiencies through additional private market financing or competitive practices, or both.
(c) State and local governments are in the best position to assess and respond to local needs. State and local governments should, subject to assuring continued compliance with Federal requirements that public use be on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, have maximum possible freedom to make decisions concerning the maintenance and disposition of their federally financed infrastructure assets.
(d) User fees are generally more efficient than general taxes as a means to support infrastructure assets. Privatization transactions should be structured so as not to result in unreasonable increases in charges to users.
(a) Review those procedures affecting the management and disposition of federally financed infrastructure assets owned by State and local governments and modify those procedures to encourage appropriate privatization of such assets consistent with this order;
(b) Assist State and local governments in their efforts to advance the objectives of this order; and
(c) Approve State and local governments' requests to privatize infrastructure assets, consistent with the criteria in section 4 of this order and, where necessary, grant exceptions to the disposition requirements of the "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments" common rule, or other relevant rules or regulations, for infrastructure assets; provided that the transfer price shall be distributed, as paid, in the following manner: (i) State and local governments shall first recoup in full the unadjusted dollar amount of their portion of total project costs (including any transaction and fix-up costs they incur) associated with the infrastructure asset involved; (ii) if proceeds remain, then the Federal Government shall recoup in full the amount of Federal grant awards associated with the infrastructure asset, less the applicable share of accumulated depreciation on such asset (calculated using the Internal Revenue Service accelerated depreciation schedule for the categories of assets in question); and (iii) finally, the State and local governments shall keep any remaining proceeds.
(b) Demonstrates that a market mechanism, legally enforceable agreement, or regulatory mechanism will ensure that: (i) the infrastructure asset or assets will continue to be used for their originally authorized purposes, as long as needed for those purposes, even if the purchaser becomes insolvent or is otherwise hindered from fulfilling the originally authorized purposes; and (ii) user charges will be consistent with any current Federal conditions that protect users and the public by limiting the charges.
George Bush.
Executive Order No. 12805
Ex. Ord. No. 12805, May 11, 1992, 57 F.R. 20627, which related to integrity and efficiency in Federal programs, was omitted from the Code pursuant to
Executive Order No. 12816
Ex. Ord. No. 12816, Oct. 14, 1992, 57 F.R. 47562, which established the President's Council on Management Improvement and provided for its membership, functions, etc., was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13048, §5, June 10, 1997, 62 F.R. 32469, set out below.
Ex. Ord. No. 12837. Deficit Control and Productivity Improvement in the Administration of the Federal Government
Ex. Ord. No. 12837, Feb. 10, 1993, 58 F.R. 8205, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended (31 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in order to assist in the control of the Federal deficit and improve the administrative productivity of the Federal Government, it is hereby ordered as follows:
(a) For fiscal year 1994, all agencies shall submit budget requests that reflect no less than a 3 percent reduction in administrative expenses from the amount made available for fiscal year 1993 adjusted for inflation;
(b) For fiscal year 1995, all agencies shall submit budget requests that reflect no less than a 6 percent reduction in administrative expenses from the amounts made available for fiscal year 1993 adjusted for inflation;
(c) For fiscal year 1996, all agencies shall submit budget requests that reflect no less than a 9 percent reduction in administrative expenses from the amounts made available for fiscal year 1993 adjusted for inflation;
(d) For fiscal year 1997, all agencies shall submit budget requests that reflect no less than a 14 percent reduction in administrative expenses from the amounts made available for fiscal year 1993 adjusted for inflation.
William J. Clinton.
Ex. Ord. No. 12862. Setting Customer Service Standards
Ex. Ord. No. 12862, Sept. 11, 1993, 58 F.R. 48257, provided:
Putting people first means ensuring that the Federal Government provides the highest quality service possible to the American people. Public officials must embark upon a revolution within the Federal Government to change the way it does business. This will require continual reform of the executive branch's management practices and operations to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector.
NOW, THEREFORE, to establish and implement customer service standards to guide the operations of the executive branch, and by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, it is hereby ordered:
All executive departments and agencies (hereinafter referred to collectively as "agency" or "agencies") that provide significant services directly to the public shall provide those services in a manner that seeks to meet the customer service standard established herein and shall take the following actions:
(a) identify the customers who are, or should be, served by the agency;
(b) survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services;
(c) post service standards and measure results against them;
(d) benchmark customer service performance against the best in business;
(e) survey front-line employees on barriers to, and ideas for, matching the best in business;
(f) provide customers with choices in both the sources of service and the means of delivery;
(g) make information, services, and complaint systems easily accessible; and
(h) provide means to address customer complaints.
William J. Clinton.
Ex. Ord. No. 12893. Principles for Federal Infrastructure Investments
Ex. Ord. No. 12893, Jan. 26, 1994, 59 F.R. 4233, provided:
A well-functioning infrastructure is vital to sustained economic growth, to the quality of life in our communities, and to the protection of our environment and natural resources. To develop and maintain its infrastructure facilities, our Nation relies heavily on investments by the Federal Government.
Our Nation will achieve the greatest benefits from its infrastructure facilities if it invests wisely and continually improves the quality and performance of its infrastructure programs. Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Each executive department and agency with infrastructure responsibilities (hereinafter referred to collectively as "agencies") shall develop and implement plans for infrastructure investment and management consistent with the following principles:
(a) Systematic Analysis of Expected Benefits and Costs. Infrastructure investments shall be based on systematic analysis of expected benefits and costs, including both quantitative and qualitative measures, in accordance with the following:
(1) Benefits and costs should be quantified and monetized to the maximum extent practicable. All types of benefits and costs, both market and nonmarket, should be considered. To the extent that environmental and other nonmarket benefits and costs can be quantified, they shall be given the same weight as quantifiable market benefits and costs.
(2) Benefits and costs should be measured and appropriately discounted over the full life cycle of each project. Such analysis will enable informed tradeoffs among capital outlays, operating and maintenance costs, and nonmonetary costs borne by the public.
(3) When the amount and timing of important benefits and costs are uncertain, analyses shall recognize the uncertainty and address it through appropriate quantitative and qualitative assessments.
(4) Analyses shall compare a comprehensive set of options that include, among other things, managing demand, repairing facilities, and expanding facilities.
(5) Analyses should consider not only quantifiable measures of benefits and costs, but also qualitative measures reflecting values that are not readily quantified.
(b) Efficient Management. Infrastructure shall be managed efficiently in accordance with the following:
(1) The efficient use of infrastructure depends not only on physical design features, but also on operational practices. To improve these practices, agencies should conduct periodic reviews of the operation and maintenance of existing facilities.
(2) Agencies should use these reviews to consider a variety of management practices that can improve the return from infrastructure investments. Examples include contracting practices that reward quality and innovation, and design standards that incorporate new technologies and construction techniques.
(3) Agencies also should use these reviews to identify the demand for different levels of infrastructure services. Since efficient levels of service can often best be achieved by properly pricing infrastructure, the Federal Government-through its direct investments, grants, and regulations-should promote consideration of market-based mechanisms for managing infrastructure.
(c) Private Sector Participation. Agencies shall seek private sector participation in infrastructure investment and management. Innovative public-private initiatives can bring about greater private sector participation in the ownership, financing, construction, and operation of the infrastructure programs referred to in section 1 of this order. Consistent with the public interest, agencies should work with State and local entities to minimize legal and regulatory barriers to private sector participation in the provision of infrastructure facilities and services.
(d) Encouragement of More Effective State and Local Programs. To promote the efficient use of Federal infrastructure funds, agencies should encourage the State and local recipients of Federal grants to implement planning and information management systems that support the principles set forth in section 2(a) through (c) of this order. In turn, the Federal Government should use the information from the State and local recipients' management systems to conduct the system-level reviews of the Federal Government's infrastructure programs that are required by this order.
William J. Clinton.
Ex. Ord. No. 13048. Improving Administrative Management in the Executive Branch
Ex. Ord. No. 13048, June 10, 1997, 62 F.R. 32467, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13284, §7, Jan. 23, 2003, 68 F.R. 4075, provided:
Improvement of Government operations is a continuing process that benefits from interagency activities. One group dedicated to such activities is the President's Council on Management Improvement (PCMI), established by Executive Order 12479 in 1984, reestablished by Executive Order 12816 in 1992. In the intervening years, some activities of the PCMI have been assumed by the President's Management Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council. These organizations are also focussed on improving agencies' use of quality management principles. Other functions have been assigned to individual agencies. Nonetheless, remaining administrative management matters deserve attention across agency lines.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and in order to improve agency administrative and management practices throughout the executive branch, I hereby direct the following:
(a) Purpose and Membership. An Interagency Council on Administrative Management ("Council") is established as an interagency coordination mechanism. The Council shall be composed of the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, who shall serve as Chair, and one senior administrative management official from each of the following agencies:
1. Department of State;
2. Department of the Treasury;
3. Department of Defense;
4. Department of Justice;
5. Department of the Interior;
6. Department of Agriculture;
7. Department of Commerce;
8. Department of Labor;
9. Department of Health and Human Services;
10. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
11. Department of Transportation;
12. Department of Energy;
13. Department of Education;
14. Department of Veterans Affairs;
15. Department of Homeland Security;
16. Environmental Protection Agency;
17. Federal Emergency Management Agency;
18. Central Intelligence Agency;
19. Small Business Administration;
20. Department of the Army;
21. Department of the Navy;
22. Department of the Air Force;
23. National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
24. Agency for International Development;
25. General Services Administration;
26. National Science Foundation; and
27. Office of Personnel Management.
Department and agency heads shall advise the Chair of their selections for membership on the Council. Council membership shall also include representatives of the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Procurement Council, the Interagency Advisory Group of Federal Personnel Directors, and the Small Agency Council, as well as at-large members appointed by the Chair, as he deems appropriate. The Chair shall invite representatives of the Social Security Administration to participate in the Council's work, as appropriate. The Council shall select a Vice Chair from among the Council's membership.
(b) The Council shall plan, promote, and recommend improvements in Government administration and operations and provide advice to the Chair on matters pertaining to the administrative management of the Federal Government. The Council shall:
(1) explore opportunities for more effective use of Government resources;
(2) support activities and initiatives of the President's Management Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Procurement Council, and the Interagency Advisory Group of Federal Personnel Directors designed to develop, review, revise, and implement Governmentwide administrative management policies; and
(3) identify successful administrative management practices, including quality management practices, and assist in their Governmentwide dissemination and implementation.
(1) convene meetings of the Council;
(2) preside at formal council meetings;
(3) establish committees or working groups of the Council, as necessary for efficient conduct of Council functions; and
(4) appoint, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with personnel practices, other full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government to the Council as at-large members for specific terms, not exceeding 2 years, to provide expertise to the Council.
Ex. Ord. No. 13571. Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service
Ex. Ord. No. 13571, Apr. 27, 2011, 76 F.R. 24339, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to improve the quality of service to the public by the Federal Government, it is hereby ordered as follows:
However, with advances in technology and service delivery systems in other sectors, the public's expectations of the Government have continued to rise. The Government must keep pace with and even exceed those expectations. Government must also address the need to improve its services, not only to individuals, but also to private and Governmental entities to which the agency directly provides significant services. Government managers must learn from what is working in the private sector and apply these best practices to deliver services better, faster, and at lower cost. Such best practices include increasingly popular lower-cost, self-service options accessed by the Internet or mobile phone and improved processes that deliver services faster and more responsively, reducing the overall need for customer inquiries and complaints. The Federal Government has a responsibility to streamline and make more efficient its service delivery to better serve the public.
(a) establishing one major initiative (signature initiative) that will use technology to improve the customer experience;
(b) establishing mechanisms to solicit customer feedback on Government services and using such feedback regularly to make service improvements;
(c) setting clear customer service standards and expectations, including, where appropriate, performance goals for customer service required by the GPRA (Government Performance and Results) Modernization Act of 2010 (
(d) improving the customer experience by adopting proven customer service best practices and coordinating across service channels (such as online, phone, in-person, and mail services);
(e) streamlining agency processes to reduce costs and accelerate delivery, while reducing the need for customer calls and inquiries; and
(f) identifying ways to use innovative technologies to accomplish the customer service activities above, thereby lowering costs, decreasing service delivery times, and improving the customer experience.
(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Barack Obama.
Ex. Ord. No. 13576. Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government
Ex. Ord. No. 13576, June 13, 2011, 76 F.R. 35297, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to cut waste, streamline Government operations, and reinforce the performance and management reform gains my Administration has achieved, it is hereby ordered as follows:
The American people must be able to trust that their Government is doing everything in its power to stop wasteful practices and earn a high return on every tax dollar that is spent. To strengthen that trust and deliver a smarter and leaner Government, my Administration will reinforce the performance and management reform gains achieved thus far; systematically identify additional reforms necessary to eliminate wasteful, duplicative, or otherwise inefficient programs; and publicize these reforms so that they may serve as a model across the Federal Government.
The implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (
(b) The Federal Chief Performance Officer (CPO), who also serves as the Deputy Director for Management of OMB and the Chair of the President's Management Council (PMC), shall work with the PMC to support agencies' performance and management reform and cost-cutting efforts. The CPO will lead OMB and the PMC in identifying practices that should be adopted across agencies and in facilitating reforms that require cross-agency coordination and cooperation. The CPO shall work with agencies to ensure that each area identified as critical to performance improvement has robust performance metrics in place, and that these metrics are frequently analyzed and reviewed by agency leadership. Agencies shall update these metrics quarterly, as appropriate, on the website performance.gov.
(c) In accordance with the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (31 U.S.C. 1115 et seq.), each agency's Chief Operating Officer (COO) shall be designated as the Senior Accountable Official responsible for leading performance and management reform efforts, and for reducing wasteful or ineffective programs, policies, and procedures. In discharging this responsibility, this official shall be accountable for conducting frequent data-driven reviews of agency progress toward goals in the areas that OMB identifies as being critical to performance improvement across agencies or that the agency head identifies as top near-term priorities. These goals may include reforming information technology, reducing improper payments, leveraging the Federal Government's purchasing scale, reducing high-risk contracting practices, improving the management of Federal real estate, enhancing customer service, and achieving agency and Federal Government priority goals identified pursuant to the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.
(d) The Director of OMB shall provide guidance to agencies as part of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget process for identifying areas of program overlap and duplication within and across agencies, and for proposing consolidations and reductions to address those inefficiencies.
(e) The Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) at all agencies shall be responsible for achieving agency cost savings. This will include each agency's share of the $2.1 billion in administrative cost savings identified in my Fiscal Year 2012 Budget, and for achieving those savings as quickly as possible. The CFOs are encouraged to realize these cost savings by targeting wasteful practices and by reducing, and identifying alternatives to, discretionary travel, the use of consultants, and other administrative expenses. The Federal CFO Council shall provide a monthly report on these efforts to the PMC, with relevant findings and progress reported on performance.gov.
(b) Not later than 6 months after the date of this order, the Board shall submit a report to the President that identifies implementation guidelines for integrating systems that support the collection and display of Government spending data, ensuring the reliability of those data, and broadening the deployment of fraud detection technologies, including those proven successful during the implementation of the Recovery Act.
(c) The Director of OMB, in consultation with the Board, shall be responsible for assisting executive agencies in achieving objectives in the guidelines identified in subsection (b) above.
(d) The Chair of the Board, in consultation with the Director of OMB, shall provide monthly updates to the Vice President on the progress obtained under this order.
(i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget related to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Barack Obama.
Ex. Ord. No. 14058. Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery To Rebuild Trust in Government
Ex. Ord. No. 14058, Dec. 13, 2021, 86 F.R. 71357, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
As the United States faces critical challenges, including recovering from a global pandemic, promoting prosperity and economic growth, advancing equity, and tackling the climate crisis, the needs of the people of the United States, informed by, in particular, an understanding of how they experience Government, should drive priorities for service delivery improvements. In recent years, the annual paperwork burden imposed by executive departments and agencies (agencies) on the public has been in excess of 9 billion hours. That number is too high. Agencies must work with the Congress; the private sector and nonprofit organizations; State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments; and other partners to design experiences with the Federal Government that effectively reduce administrative burdens, simplify both public-facing and internal processes to improve efficiency, and empower the Federal workforce to solve problems.
The Federal Government must design and deliver services in a manner that people of all abilities can navigate. We must use technology to modernize Government and implement services that are simple to use, accessible, equitable, protective, transparent, and responsive for all people of the United States. When a disaster survivor, single parent, immigrant, small business owner, or veteran waits months for the Government to process benefits to which they are entitled, that lost time is a significant cost not only for that individual, but in the aggregate, for our Nation as a whole. This lost time operates as a kind of tax-a "time tax"-and it imposes a serious burden on our people as they interact with the Government. Improving Government services should also make our Government more efficient and effective overall.
Every interaction between the Federal Government and the public, whether it involves renewing a passport or calling for a status update on a farm loan application, should be seen as an opportunity for the Government to save an individual's time (and thus reduce "time taxes") and to deliver the level of service that the public expects and deserves. By demonstrating that its processes are effective and efficient, in addition to being fair, protective of privacy interests, and transparent, the Federal Government can build public trust. Further, the Federal Government's management of its customer experience and service delivery should be driven fundamentally by the voice of the customer through human-centered design methodologies; empirical customer research; an understanding of behavioral science and user testing, especially for digital services; and other mechanisms of engagement.
Executive Order 12862 of September 11, 1993 (Setting Customer Service Standards) [set out above], required agencies that provide significant services directly to the public to identify and gather feedback from customers; establish service standards and measure performance against those standards; and benchmark customer service performance against the best customer experience provided in the private sector. Executive Order 13571 of April 27, 2011 (Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service) [set out above], further required agencies to develop a "Customer Service Plan...to address how the agency will provide services in a manner that seeks to streamline service delivery and improve the experience of its customers." Executive Order 13707 of September 15, 2015 (Using Behavioral Science Insights To Better Serve the American People) [5 U.S.C. 601 note], called for the use of empirical findings in behavioral science fields to deliver better results for the American people, including by identifying "opportunities to help qualifying individuals, families, communities, and businesses access public programs and benefits." And Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) [5 U.S.C. 601 note], established the policy of the Federal Government to "pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality." Consistent with these aims, agencies have begun assessing whether, and to what extent, their programs and policies perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups. These previous actions have laid an important foundation for the policies and procedures set forth in this order. However, more is required to establish the sustained system for Federal Government accountability and performance necessary to drive an ongoing focus on improved delivery and results for the people of the United States.
(a) The term "customer" means any individual, business, or organization (such as a grantee or State, local, or Tribal entity) that interacts with an agency or program, either directly or through a federally-funded program administered by a contractor, nonprofit, or other Federal entity.
(b) The term "customer experience" means the public's perceptions of and overall satisfaction with interactions with an agency, product, or service.
(c) The term "customer life experience" means each important point in a person's life at which that person interacts with one or more entities of Government.
(d) The term "equity" means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.
(e) The term "High Impact Service Provider" (HISP) means a Federal entity, as designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), that provides or funds customer-facing services, including Federal services administered at the State or local level, that have a high impact on the public, whether because of a large customer base or a critical effect on those served.
(f) The term "human-centered design" means an interdisciplinary methodology of putting people, including those who will use or be impacted by what one creates, at the center of any process to solve challenging problems.
(g) The term "service delivery" means actions by the Federal Government related to providing a benefit or service to a customer of a Federal Government entity. Such actions pertain to all points of the Government-to-customer delivery process, including when a customer applies for a benefit or loan, receives a service such as health care or small business counseling, requests a document such as a passport or Social Security card, files taxes or declares goods, uses resources such as a park or historical site, or seeks information such as notices about public health or consumer protection.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall design and deliver new online tools and services to ease the payment of taxes and provide the option to schedule customer support telephone call-backs. The Secretary of the Treasury should consider whether such tools and services might include expanded automatic direct deposit refunds based on prior year tax returns, tax credit eligibility tools, and expanded electronic filing options.
(c) The Secretary of the Interior shall redesign the website of the Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS.gov, in compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (
(d) The Secretary of Agriculture shall:
(i) test the use of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits for online purchasing;
(ii) identify opportunities to reduce individuals' and families' burdens by simplifying enrollment and recertification for nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the WIC, including expanding the use of direct certification; and
(iii) design and implement a simplified direct farm loan application process.
(e) The Secretary of Labor shall:
(i) update existing rules and policies, consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, to allow individuals entitled to medical treatment under their workers' compensation plans to conduct their routine medical treatment appointments using telehealth platforms; and
(ii) update rules, policies, and procedures to eliminate, consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, requirements for workers' compensation claimants to submit physical documents, but to retain the option for physical submission for claimants who cannot otherwise submit them.
(f) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall:
(i) continue to design and deliver new, personalized online tools and expanded customer support options for Medicare enrollees;
(ii) strengthen requirements for maternal health quality measurement, including measuring perinatal quality and patient care experiences, and evaluating the measurements by race and ethnicity to aim to better identify inequities in maternal health care delivery and outcomes;
(iii) to the maximum extent permitted by law, support coordination between benefit programs to ensure applicants and beneficiaries in one program are automatically enrolled in other programs for which they are eligible;
(iv) to the maximum extent permitted by law, support streamlining State enrollment and renewal processes and removing barriers, including by eliminating face-to-face interview requirements and requiring prepopulated electronic renewal forms, to ensure eligible individuals are automatically enrolled in and retain access to critical benefit programs;
(v) develop guidance for entities regulated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [of 1996] (HIPAA) [
(vi) test methods to automate patient access to electronic prenatal, birth, and postpartum health records (including lab results, genetic tests, ultrasound images, and clinical notes) to improve patient experiences in maternity care, health outcomes, and equity.
(g) The Secretary of Education shall:
(i) consider providing eligible recipients of student aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (
(ii) design and deliver a repayment portal capability on StudentAid.gov for Direct Loan borrowers.
(h) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall:
(i) provide digital services through a single, integrated, and equitable digital platform on VA.gov and the VA mobile app; and
(ii) provide on-demand customer support through the channels that work best for customers, including personalized online chat with a virtual or live agent.
(i) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall:
(i) test the use of innovative technologies at airport security checkpoints to reduce passenger wait times;
(ii) provide new opportunities for customers to connect with the Transportation Security Administration, including as appropriate, online chat, improved communication during additional screenings, and additional mechanisms to provide customer feedback;
(iii) design and deliver a streamlined, online disaster assistance application; and
(iv) work with States to proactively update existing rules and policies on supporting documentation needed for disaster assistance processes to reduce burden and increase accessibility.
(j) The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall:
(i) establish baseline experience measures for key small business application processes in areas such as loans, grants, and certifications; and
(ii) design and deliver a streamlined online disaster assistance application experience.
(k) The Commissioner of Social Security shall:
(i) within 120 days of the date of this order [Dec. 13, 2021], provide a report to the Director of OMB that analyzes all services of the Social Security Administration that currently require original or physical documentation or in-person appearance as an element of identity or evidence authentication, and that identifies potential opportunities for policy reforms that can support modernized customer experiences while ensuring original or physical documentation requirements remain where there is a statutory or strong policy rationale;
(ii) develop a mobile-accessible, online process so that any individual applying for or receiving services from the Social Security Administration can upload forms, documentation, evidence, or correspondence associated with their transaction without the need for service-specific tools or traveling to a field office;
(iii) consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, maintain a public policy of technology neutrality with respect to acceptable forms of electronic signatures;
(iv) consistent with applicable law and to the extent practicable, revise any necessary regulations, forms, instructions, or other sources of guidance (to include the Program Operations Manual System of the Social Security Administration) to remove requirements that members of the public provide physical signatures; and
(v) to the maximum extent permitted by law, support applicants and beneficiaries to identify other benefits for which they may be eligible and integrate Social Security Administration data and processes with those of other Federal and State entities whenever possible.
(l) The Administrator of General Services shall:
(i) develop a roadmap for a redesigned USA.gov website that aims to serve as a centralized, digital "Federal Front Door" from which customers may navigate to all Government benefits, services, and programs, and features streamlined content, processes, and technologies that use human-centered design to meet customer needs, including consolidating content currently appearing on Benefits.gov, Grants.gov, and other appropriate websites; and
(ii) dedicate multi-disciplinary design and development teams to support priority projects of HISPs that will be selected and funded each fiscal year in consultation with the Director of OMB.
(m) The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shall review and revise, as appropriate, regulations, forms, instructions, or other sources of guidance relating to the application for grants and cooperative agreements in countries in which USAID works to ensure that such policies are clear and intelligible, do not contain unjustified administrative burdens or excessive paperwork requirements, and do not place undue burdens on local organizations and underserved communities.
(n) Joint Agency Actions:
(i) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Administrator of General Services shall collaborate to provide seamless integration of Login.gov accounts to allow customers to access VA.gov, the VA mobile application, and other customer-facing digital products and to eliminate outdated and duplicate customer sign-in options.
(ii) The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Education, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall collaborate to enable a more streamlined Public Service Loan Forgiveness process for eligible borrowers, including those who serve in the United States Armed Forces or as civil servants, or who work for eligible nonprofit organizations.
(iii) The Director of OMB, including through the Administrator of the United States Digital Service, shall collaborate across the Federal Government with multiple agencies and their respective customers in order to conduct human-centered design research and document customer experience challenges related to accessing grant programs to which Tribal governments are entitled, and shall propose ways to streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens on Tribal government customers.
(iv) The Director of OMB, through the Administrator of the United States Digital Service; the Administrator of General Services; and the Postmaster General are encouraged to collaborate on ways to update mailing address records across Government so that members of the public may change their respective mailing addresses for purposes of all Government services only once, through the United States Postal Service.
Such coordination may include providing States that administer elements of Federal services with guidance and flexibilities with respect to the elements of Federal programs they administer. Such coordination would allow both Federal and State government entities to maximize their respective expertise and improve efficiency. To further the policy set forth in this section:
(a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, and on a regular basis thereafter, the Deputy Director for Management of OMB and other members of the President's Management Council (PMC) shall work with the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy to select a limited number of customer life experiences to prioritize for Government-wide action to improve customer experience.
(b) The Deputy Director for Management of OMB and other members of the PMC, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and relevant interagency teams coordinated by OMB, shall organize appropriate leadership structures to assess customer life experiences selected pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, work to develop measurable improvements for such customer life experiences that involve multiple agencies, develop prospective plans for rigorously testing that use appropriate empirical methods on which approaches work best, and share lessons learned across the Federal Government.
(c) Within 180 days of the date of this order and every 6 months thereafter, the Deputy Director for Management of OMB and other members of the PMC, through the Deputy Director for Management of OMB, shall report to the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff on the status of the actions described in subsection (b) of this section.
(d) The Director of OMB shall work with the head of each relevant agency to help resolve issues related to overlapping responsibilities among agencies, work to address barriers to serving customers across multiple agencies, and coordinate activities to improve customer experience or service delivery when primary responsibility among multiple agencies is unclear.
(e) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB, in consultation with relevant interagency councils (including the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Privacy Council, the Chief Data Officer Council, the Evaluation Officer Council, and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy), shall coordinate their current, respective efforts to develop guidance for agencies, ensuring that such guidance incorporates opportunities to:
(i) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of data sharing and support processes among agencies and with State and local governments; and
(ii) streamline the process for agencies to provide services to State and local governments, consistent with applicable law.
(f) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall provide guidance for agencies on:
(i) identifying specific steps to reduce information collection burdens on customers to enhance access across agencies; and
(ii) clarifying and updating recommendations and flexibilities under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), including to facilitate stakeholder engagement and feedback processes to support the implementation of this order.
(g) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of General Services shall submit to the Director of OMB a roadmap for the development of prioritized common services and standards (such as the United States Web Design System or systems for login and identity management), platforms (such as notification capabilities), and digital products (such as USA.gov) that support increased efficiency, integration, and improved service delivery of designated customer life experiences.
(b) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the Commissioner of Social Security, the Administrator of General Services, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall each submit to the Director of OMB a report including an assessment of the improvements needed in each agency's customer experience management and service design capabilities in light of this order, to be prioritized within each agency's respective available and budgeted resources.
(c) The head of each HISP shall, in consultation with the Deputy Director for Management of OMB, annually designate a limited number of services for prioritized improvement (designated services). Identification of designated services should be based on the moments that matter most to the individuals served, as illustrated through human-centered design and other research, and on those services' public-facing nature, the number of individuals served, the volume of transactions, the total Federal dollars spent, the safety and protection of lives, or the critical nature of the services provided in the lives of the individuals they serve.
(d) The Deputy Director for Management of OMB shall issue guidance for HISPs that outlines an annual process for assessing their capacity to manage customer experience, assessing their performance of designated services through meaningful measures from the perspective of the public and planning for the improvement of the customer experience. Assessments should include, as appropriate, the identification of customer experience challenges experienced by customers of the HISP in the form of administrative burdens or other barriers, informed by experiential data (including, as appropriate, through randomized controlled trials or other rigorous program evaluation); ethnographic research; feedback from public engagement; human-centered design methodologies such as journey mapping; operational and administrative data analysis; direct observations; examination, from a customer perspective, of how to navigate the agency's service offerings, apply for a benefit, or comply with a requirement of the agency; observations of customer interaction with the agency's website or application processes and tools; or observations of customer support service delivery such as activities at call centers. Informed by findings from these assessments, plans for improvement should include, as appropriate, actions such as conducting outreach to the public about the agency's programs and other Federal programs for which those served by the agency may be eligible, providing assistance to members of the public enrolling in the agency's programs and other Federal programs, streamlining and improving accessibility of forms and digital experiences, eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens on customers, ensuring the accessibility of services for customers with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency, developing targeted actions to advance equity for communities that face inequitable barriers to service access, or engaging in other efforts to coordinate with other agencies to reduce the need for those they serve to interact separately with multiple agencies.
(e) The Director of OMB shall establish a team within OMB to lead and support agency customer experience initiatives as well as such initiatives that reach across agencies, including by facilitating the decision-making processes needed to achieve the objectives of this order; coordinating HISP activities as outlined in this order; and developing strategies for the integration of services and development of products involving multiple agencies as contemplated in this order.
(f) All agencies, whether identified in this section or not, are urged to apply guidance issued pursuant to subsection (d) of this section to improve their service delivery.
(a) integrate activities to improve customer experience, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, into their respective:
(i) agency strategic plans developed pursuant to section 306(a) of title 5, United States Code;
(ii) Agency Performance Plans developed pursuant to sections 1115 and 1116 of title 31, United States Code;
(iii) portions of performance plans relating to human and capital resource requirements to achieve performance goals pursuant to section 1115(g) of title 31, United States Code;
(iv) agency priority goals developed pursuant to section 1120 of title 31, United States Code;
(v) selection of items for their respective regulatory agendas and plans pursuant to subsections 4(b) and (c) of Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review) [5 U.S.C. 601 note], as amended;
(vi) individual performance plans for senior executives consistent with section 4312 of title 5, United States Code, and for other senior employees consistent with section 4302 of title 5, United States Code; and
(vii) as permitted by law, any other agency activities, acquisitions, and strategies that the Director of OMB determines to be appropriate to further the implementation of the policy articulated in this order;
(b) direct all of their respective program offices to apply the guidance from OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs described in section 5(f) of this order, as well as the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act related to collections of information, consistently with guidance contained in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Memorandum of July 22, 2016 (Flexibilities under the Paperwork Reduction Act for Compliance with Information Collection Requirements), which provides that the Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply to agencies' general solicitations of public views and feedback, certain ratings and rankings of Federal services by members of the public using Government websites, or direct observations of users interacting with digital tools and products;
(c) direct all of their respective program offices to identify opportunities to apply policies, including those set forth in subsections 1(a) and (b) of Executive Order 13707, and to engage in promising practices such as the advance testing of information collections described in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Memorandum of August 9, 2012 (Testing and Simplifying Federal Forms);
(d) identify opportunities, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to modify their respective agencies' regulations, internal and public-facing guidance, and policies to include positive and equitable customer experiences and service delivery as part of their respective agencies' missions; issue internal directives or policies on customer experience and service delivery to articulate how their respective agencies' strategies and missions relate to customer experience and service delivery outcomes; and promote coordination within and among their respective agencies concerning those customer life experiences that cut across agency or agency component responsibilities;
(e) improve the digital customer experience for their respective agencies' customers by modernizing agency websites, using human-centered design methodologies, digitizing agency services and forms, modernizing records management, updating network infrastructure and mobility capabilities, and accelerating the use of electronic signatures when aligned with policy priorities, as required by the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and
(f) identify means by which their respective agencies can improve transparency and accessibility through their compliance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
Implementing Management Reform in Executive Branch
Memorandum of President of the United States, Oct. 1, 1993, 58 F.R. 52393, which directed the head of executive departments and agencies, and requested independent agencies, to establish a chief operating officer and implement additional agency management reforms and established the President's Management Council to advise and assist the President and Vice President in ensuring that such reforms were implemented, was revoked by Memorandum of President of the United States, July 11, 2001, 66 F.R. 37105, set out below.
Implementing Government Reform
Memorandum of President of the United States, July 11, 2001, 66 F.R. 37105, provided:
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
Throughout the campaign and in my Budget, I have called for "active, but limited" Government: one that empowers States, cities, and citizens to make decisions; ensures results through accountability; and promotes innovation through competition. Thus, if reform is to help the Federal Government adapt to a rapidly changing world, its primary objectives must be a Government that is:
• Citizen-centered-not bureaucracy centered;
• Results-oriented-not process-oriented; and
• Market-based-actively promoting, not stifling, innovation and competition.
In order to establish and implement Government reform throughout the executive branch, I hereby direct the following:
1. Establish Chief Operating Officers.
Each agency head shall designate a Chief Operating Officer, who shall be the senior official with agency-wide authority on behalf of the Secretary or agency head. The Chief Operating Officer, the equivalent of the Deputy Secretary, shall report directly to the agency head and shall be responsible for:
(a) implementing the President's and agency head's goals and the agency's mission;
(b) providing overall organization management to improve agency performance;
(c) assisting the agency head in promoting Government reform, developing strategic plans, and measuring results; and
(d) overseeing agency-specific efforts to integrate performance and budgeting, expand competitive sourcing, strengthen their workforce, improve financial management, advance e-government, apply information policy and technology policies, and other Government-wide management reforms.
2. Implement Additional Agency Reforms.
Each agency head shall identify and implement additional changes within the agency that will promote the principles of government reform.
3. Establishment of President's Management Council.
In order to advise and assist the President in ensuring that Government reform is implemented throughout the executive branch, I hereby establish the President's Management Council ("Council"). The Council shall comprise:
(a) The Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget;
(b) The Chief Operating Officers from the following agencies:
(1) Department of State;
(2) Department of the Treasury;
(3) Department of Defense;
(4) Department of Justice;
(5) Department of the Interior;
(6) Department of Agriculture;
(7) Department of Commerce;
(8) Department of Labor;
(9) Department of Health and Human Services;
(10) Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(11) Department of Transportation;
(12) Department of Energy;
(13) Department of Education; and
(14) Department of Veterans Affairs.
(c) The following central management agency representatives:
(1) Director of the Office of Personnel Management;
(2) Administrator of General Services;
(d) Chief Operating Officers of the following agencies:
(1) Environmental Protection Agency;
(2) National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(3) National Science Foundation;
(4) Social Security Administration; and
(5) Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(e) Chief Operating Officers of three other executive branch agencies designated by the Chairperson, in his or her discretion;
(f) Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary;
(g) Deputy Assistant to the President for Management and Administration; and
(h) Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President; and
(i) Such other officials of the executive departments and agencies as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or I may, from time to time, designate.
The Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall serve as Chairperson of the Council. The Chairperson of the Council may appoint a Vice-Chairperson from the Council's membership to assist the Chairperson in conducting affairs of the Council.
The functions of the Council shall include, among others:
(a) improving overall executive branch management, including implementation of the President's Management Agenda;
(b) coordinating management-related efforts to improve Government throughout the executive branch and, as necessary, resolving specific interagency management issues;
(c) ensuring the adoption of new management practices in agencies throughout the executive branch; and
(d) identifying examples of, and providing mechanisms for, interagency exchange of information about best management practices.
The Council shall seek advice and information as appropriate from nonmember Federal agencies, particularly smaller agencies. The Council shall also consider the management reform experience of corporations, nonprofit organizations, State and local governments, Government employees, public sector unions, and customers of Government services.
Agencies shall cooperate with the Council and provide such assistance, information, and advice to the Council as the Council may request, to the extent permitted by law.
4. Independent Agencies.
Independent agencies are requested to comply with this memorandum.
5. Revocation and Judicial Review.
(a) the memorandum of October 1, 1993, entitled "Implementing Management Reform in the Executive Branch" is revoked.
(b) this memorandum is for the internal management of the executive branch and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by a party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
6. Publication.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
George W. Bush.
Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation
Memorandum of President of the United States, Mar. 11, 2011, 76 F.R. 14273, provided:
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
As I outlined in my State of the Union address to the Congress on January 25, 2011, winning the future in the global economy will require reducing our deficit while investing in areas critical to long-term economic growth and competitiveness such as education, innovation, and infrastructure. By out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors, we will enable our Nation to grow, create jobs, and thrive in the years ahead.
At the same time, we cannot win the future with a government built for the past. We live and do business in the information age, but the organization of the Federal Government has not kept pace. Government agencies have grown without overall strategic planning and duplicative programs have sprung up, making it harder for each to reach its goals. Already, my Administration has taken on this waste and duplication. My current budget proposes more than 200 terminations, reductions, and savings in agency programs totaling approximately $30 billion in fiscal year 2012. And in areas as varied as surface transportation to job training, public health, and education, I have proposed to consolidate scores of programs into more focused, effective, and streamlined initiatives.
But we must go further. Winning the future will take a government that judiciously allocates scarce government resources to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness so that it can best support American competitiveness and innovation. Now is the time to act to consolidate and reorganize the executive branch of the Federal Government in a way that best serves this goal.
By this memorandum, I assign our Nation's first Chief Performance Officer, who also serves as the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (the "Chief Performance Officer"), the responsibility of leading the effort to create a plan for the restructuring and streamlining of the executive branch of the Federal Government. The first focus of this effort shall be on the executive departments and agencies and the functions that support one of our most important priorities-increasing trade, exports, and our overall competitiveness ("trade and competitiveness").
Accordingly, I direct the following:
(1) The Chief Performance Officer shall establish a Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative, led by an Executive Director, to conduct a comprehensive review of the Federal agencies and programs involved in trade and competitiveness, including analyzing their scope and effectiveness, areas of overlap and duplication, unmet needs, and possible cost savings.
(2) As part of this review, the Chief Performance Officer and Executive Director shall confer broadly with the heads and staff of executive departments and agencies, including the offices and agencies within the Executive Office of the President (collectively, the "agencies"). They should also consult broadly with external stakeholders, including Members of Congress, business leaders, unions, nongovernmental organizations, and government reform experts, to hear their individual and independent perspectives on what we are doing well and where we could improve our effectiveness and efficiency.
(3) Within 90 days from the date of this memorandum, the Chief Performance Officer shall submit recommendations to me for presidential and, ultimately, congressional action to restructure and streamline Federal Government programs focused on trade and competitiveness, based on the following principles:
(a) the functions of the executive branch of the Federal Government involved in trade and competitiveness should be organized so that the Federal Government can most efficiently and effectively facilitate the competitiveness of American businesses, large and small, and American workers in the changing global economy;
(b) the responsibilities, authorities, programs, and requirements of agencies should be transparent, understandable, and easily accessible to the American public; and
(c) agencies and programs should be organized to reduce inefficiencies and overlapping responsibilities or functions, maximize return on taxpayer dollars, and best serve the American public.
(4) Agencies shall provide, consistent with law, information and assistance requested by the Chief Performance Officer and Executive Director to inform their work as directed by this memorandum.
(5) Agencies shall carry out the provisions of this memorandum to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory and regulatory authorities and their enforcement mechanisms.
(6) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(7) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
Barack Obama.