Bush attacks Gore's pledge not to increase federal workforce

Vice President Al Gore won't be able to keep his promise to freeze government hiring if he is elected President, said officials from Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's campaign. Meanwhile, Gore said he would cut the contractor workforce, too.

In a campaign briefing paper released Tuesday, Gore said he "would not add to the number of people working for the federal government, not even by one position."

Bush campaign officials responded by releasing a seven-page list of programs that Gore has proposed, saying, "Al Gore wants voters to believe that he can expand or create 285 federal programs without expanding the federal workforce by a single position."

Bush officials also challenged Gore's claim that the Clinton administration eliminated federal jobs through management reforms. "Al Gore is exaggerating the accomplishments of his 'reinventing government' program-the smaller federal government he takes credit for has largely come from cuts his administration made to the military," a Bush spokesman said.

Bush officials noted that Brookings scholar and Government Executive Contributing Editor Paul Light has refuted Gore's claim that reinventing government is largely responsible for reducing the size of the federal government. In the October issue of Government Executive, Light argued that the true size of government is much bigger than either Gore or Bush would like to admit-and that it will get even bigger no matter which is elected President.

Meanwhile, Gore also pledged this week not to add to the government's contractor workforce, according to a campaign policy paper, "The Big Choice: The Role of Government."

Two large federal labor unions, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) applauded that promise. AFGE President Bobby Harnage said Gore was the first presidential candidate to acknowledge the size of the contractor workforce, saying AFGE views Gore's pledge as "rightsizing more than downsizing." According to AFGE, Morley Winograd, director of Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government contacted the union before releasing the campaign pledge on reinventing government.

AFGE is supporting legislation, H.R. 3766, that would prevent agencies from contracting out work without public-private competition.

National Federation of Federal Employees President Richard N. Brown said he understands the federal government's fiscal responsibility to contain the size of government. "If [the hiring freeze] allows the process of reducing the size of the federal government to be through natural attrition, that's good. We are still supportive of Al Gore."

The Contracting Services Association (CSA), however, attacked Gore's pledge to freeze the contractor workforce. "Mr. Gore cannot ignore the enormously important contributions that private industry has made working with government, or that these contributions can provide for a better government," said CSA President Gary Engebretson.

The Senior Executives Association had no comment on Gore's proposal.