Bush administration official downplays reorganization

A Bush administration official Tuesday downplayed the importance of efforts to grant the president broad authority to reorganize federal agencies, and reinforced the administration's commitment to governmentwide civil service reform.

In a luncheon talk in Washington, Clay Johnson, deputy director for management for the Office of Management and Budget, said that reorganization authority--which is backed by key members of Congress--is not one of the administration's top management priorities. "We're not interested [in it just] for the purpose of reorganization," Johnson said.

Agency reorganization--which can include creating or eliminating agencies--long has been a focus in the federal management community. The National Commission on Public Service, a 10-member group chaired by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul A. Volcker, stressed the importance of reorganization in a 2003 report. The panel's first recommendation was for the federal government to be reorganized into a smaller number of agencies.

"There is extensive evidence now of duplication, overlap, and gaps in many critical government functions," the report stated, citing the fact that 12 different agencies administer food safety laws.

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., has pushed the idea of granting the president broad authority to reorganize agencies. Last year, a Davis proposal to allow the president to restructure intelligence agencies was included in the House version of the intelligence overhaul bill, but Senate conferees removed it.

At a committee hearing in 2003, then-OMB Deputy Director Nancy Dorn said the Bush administration strongly supported reauthorizing the Reorganization Act, which was first used in 1932 and expired in 1984. The act would give the Bush administration the power to propose reorganizing agencies and would require Congress to quickly approve or reject its recomendations.

"If enacted, this authority would be another powerful tool for this president to use to improve the management of the executive branch of the federal government," she said. At the time, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, also threw his support behind giving President Bush the authority to reorganize agencies.

But on Tuesday, Johnson said the administration placed more emphasis on the importance of leadership. "No agency is so well conceived that bad management can't mess it up," he said. Good management, he said, must be a priority of Cabinet secretaries.

Johnson also said that he doesn't want to wait to see how personnel reforms at the Defense and Homeland Security departments turn out before proposing governmentwide civil service reform, which he said OMB plans to do in the next few months.

"How well Defense does has no bearing on how well the Interior Department does," he said. Success is a function of clearly defining the reform goals and giving agencies enough time to adjust to changes, he said.

Johnson acknowledged that although the Republicans control Congress, it still will be difficult to push OMB's agenda. "Having the majority helps, but it's no cakewalk," he said.

Mark Abramson, executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, which sponsored the luncheon, cited personnel reform as one of the top-and most controversial--management challenges facing the Bush administration.

In a question-and-answer session, Johnson also reflected on the effects of OMB's trafficlight-style management score card. When it was introduced, he said, "Old-timers said, 'We're adults, this is not kindergarten.' " But, Johnson added, the score card succeeded in getting everyone's attention.

"Public shame and humiliation will get them every time," he said.