https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...nment-making-efficient-effective-accountable/
"Billions and billions of dollars are being wasted on activities that are not delivering results for hardworking American taxpayers."
President Donald J. Trump
MISSION ALIGNMENT IMPERATIVES
A. Organizational Realignments to Enhance Mission and
Service Delivery
1. Merge the Departments of Education and Labor
into a single Cabinet agency, the Department of
Education and the Workforce, charged with meeting
the needs of American students and workers
from education and skill development to workplace
protection to retirement security. As part of the
merger, the Administration also proposes significant
Government-wide workforce development program
consolidations, streamlining separate programs in
order to increase efficiencies and better serve American
workers.
2. Move the non-commodity nutrition assistance
programs currently in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service
into the Department of Health and Human
Services—which will be renamed the Department
of Health and Public Welfare.
Also, establish a Council on Public Assistance, comprised
of all agencies that administer public benefits,
with statutory authority to set cross-program
policies including uniform work requirements.
3. Move the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Civil
Works out of the Department of Defense (DOD)
to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and
Department of the Interior (DOI) to consolidate
and align the Corps’ civil works missions with these
agencies.
4. Reorganize the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection
Service and the food safety functions of
HHS’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into a
single agency within USDA that would cover virtually
all the foods Americans eat.
5. Move USDA’s rural housing loan guarantee and
rental assistance programs to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), allowing
both agencies to focus on their core missions and,
over time, further align the Federal Government’s
role in housing policy.
6. Merge the Department of Commerce’s (Commerce)
National Marine Fisheries Service with
DOI’s Fish and Wildlife Service. This merger would
consolidate the administration of the Endangered
Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act in
one agency and combine the Services’ science and
management capacity, resulting in more consistent
Federal fisheries and wildlife policy and improved
service to stakeholders and the public, particularly
on infrastructure permitting.
7. Consolidate portions of DOI’s Central Hazardous
Materials Program and USDA’s Hazardous Materials
Management program into the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program.
This consolidation would allow EPA to address
environmental cleanup under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response Compensation & Liability
Act (CERCLA) on Federal land regardless of which
of these agencies manages the land, while DOI and
USDA would maintain their existing environmental
compliance, bonding, and reclamation programs for
non-CERCLA sites.
8. Optimize Department of State (State) and U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID)
humanitarian assistance to eliminate duplication
of efforts and fragmentation of decision-making.
A specific reorganization proposal will be submitted
by State and USAID to OMB as part of their FY 2020
Budget request to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Federal Government’s humanitarian
assistance across State and USAID, establish unity
of voice and policy, and optimize outreach to other
donors to increase burden-sharing and drive reform
at the UN and in multilateral humanitarian policy.
9. Consolidate the U.S. Government’s development
finance tools, such as the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Development
Credit Authority (DCA) of USAID, into a new
Development Finance Institution in a reformed
and modernized way to leverage more privatesector
investment, provide strong alternatives to
state-directed initiatives, create more innovative
vehicles to open and expand markets for U.S. firms,
and enhance protections for U.S. taxpayers.
10. Transform USAID through an extensive, agency-
driven structural reorganization of headquarters
Bureaus and Independent Offices as a foundational
component of USAID’s overall plans to better
advance partner countries’ self-reliance, support
U.S. national security, and ensure the effectiveness
and efficiency of foreign assistance.
11. Move the policy function of the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) into the Executive Office of the
President, and elevate its core strategic mission
while devolving certain operational activities –
the delivery of various fee-for-service human
resources, IT services, and background investigations
– to other Federal entities better aligned to provide
non-strategic transaction processing services
that meet 21st Century needs. This new structure
would better accommodate an overhaul of the Federal
civil service statutory and regulatory framework.
12. Transfer responsibility for perpetual care and
operation of select military and veteran cemeteries
located on DOD installations to the Department
of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery
Administration. This transfer assures these cemeteries
will be maintained to national shrine standards
to continue the recognition of service of those
interred therein, gains efficiencies, and limits mission
overlap based on a common-sense approach to
good government.
13. Reorganize the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau
of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics under Commerce to increase cost-effectiveness
and improve data quality while simultaneously
reducing respondent burden on businesses
and the public. Together, these three agencies
account for 53 percent of the U.S. Statistical System’s
annual budget of $2.26 billion and share
unique synergies in their collection of economic
and demographic data and analysis of key national
indicators.
14. Consolidate the Department of Energy’s (DOE)
applied energy programs into a new Office of
Energy Innovation in order to maximize the benefits
of energy research and development and to
enable quicker adaptation to the Nation’s changing
energy technology needs.
15. Devolution of Activities from the Federal
Government
a) Sell the transmission assets owned and
operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
and the Power Marketing Administrations
within DOE, including those of Southwestern
Power Administration, Western Area Power
Administration, and Bonneville Power Administration,
to encourage a more efficient allocation
of economic resources and mitigate unnecessary
risk to taxpayers.
b) Restructure the U.S. Postal System to return
it to a sustainable business model or prepare
it for future conversion from a Government
agency into a privately-held corporation.
The President’s Task Force on the United States
Postal System will make recommendations on
reforms towards this goal in August 2018.
c) Reorganize DOT to better align the agency’s
core missions and programmatic responsibilities,
reduce transportation program
fragmentation across the Government, and
improve outcomes. Changes would include
spinning off Federal responsibility for operating
air traffic control services, integrating into DOT
certain coastal and inland waterways commercial
navigation activities and transportation security
programs, and reassessing the structure and
responsibilities of DOT’s Office of the Secretary.
16. Transform the way the Federal Government
delivers support for the U.S. housing finance
system to ensure more transparency and accountability
to taxpayers, and to minimize the risk of taxpayer-
funded bailouts, while maintaining responsible
and sustainable support for homeowners.
Proposed changes, which would require broader
policy and legislative reforms beyond restructuring
Federal agencies and programs, include ending the
conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
reducing their role in the housing market, and providing
an explicit, limited Federal backstop that is
on-budget and apart from the Federal support for
low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
17. Rethink how the Federal Government can drive
economic growth in concert with private-sector
investments in communities across the Nation by
coordinating and consolidating Federal economic
assistance resources into a Bureau of Economic
Growth at Commerce, producing a higher return on
taxpayer investment on projects that are transparent
and accountable.
18. Transform the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned
Corps into a leaner and more efficient
organization that is better prepared to respond
to public health emergencies and provide vital
health services, including by reducing the size
of the Corps and building up a Reserve Corps for
response in public health emergencies.
MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT
AND EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES
19. Establish an accelerated process for determining
whether one or more of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration’s (NASA) Centers
should be converted to, or host, a Federally
Funded Research and Development Center
(FFRDC). FFRDCs can potentially allow the agency
to be more agile in rapidly responding to changing
needs and in recruiting and retaining scientific and
technical expertise.
20. Consolidate the administration of graduate fellowships
for multiple Federal agencies under the
National Science Foundation in order to reduce the
total cost of administering those fellowships.
21. Optimize the Federal real property footprint by
making smart investments in renovations and new
facilities, driving down lease costs, and disposing of
unneeded real estate through a streamlined process
that results in the greatest return to the taxpayer.
22. Consolidate and streamline financial education
and literacy programs currently operating across
more than 20 Federal agencies to ensure effective
allocation of Federal financial literacy resources and
avoid unneeded overlap and duplication.
23. Strengthen the Small Business Administration
(SBA) as the voice of small business within
the Government by consolidating small business
focused guaranteed lending and Federal contracting
certification programs at SBA.
24. Consolidate protective details at certain civilian
Executive Branch agencies under the U.S.
Marshals Service in order to more effectively
and efficiently monitor and respond to potential
threats. Threat assessments would be conducted
with support from the U.S. Secret Service.
25. Consolidate the small grants functions, expertise,
and grantmaking from the Inter-American Foundation
and U.S. African Development Foundation
into USAID beginning in FY 2019. The consolidation
would be a significant step to reduce the proliferation
of Federal international affairs agencies that are
operating today, while also elevating community-led,
“local works” small grants as a development and
diplomacy tool for the U.S. Government.
26. Transition Federal agencies’ business processes
and recordkeeping to a fully electronic environment,
and end the National Archives and Records
Administration’s acceptance of paper records by
December 31, 2022. This would improve agencies’
efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness to citizens
by converting paper-based processes to electronic
workflows, expanding online services, and
enhancing management of Government records,
data, and information.
TRANSFORMATION URGENCY –
NEW CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS
27. Transform the way Americans interact with the
Federal Government by establishing a Government-
wide customer experience improvement
capability to partner with Federal agencies to help
them provide a modern, streamlined, and customer-
centric experience for citizens, businesses, and
other customers, comparable to leading privatesector
organizations.
28. Pursue a Next Generation (Next Gen) Financial
Services Environment as a new approach to Federal
Student Aid (FSA) processing and servicing
with a modernized, innovative, and integrated
architecture. Next Gen will save taxpayers millions
of dollars and will create an improved, world-class
customer experience for FSA’s more than 42 million
customers, while creating a more agile and streamlined
operating model.
29. Solve the Federal cybersecurity workforce
shortage by establishing a unified cyber workforce
capability across the civilian enterprise, working
through DHS and OMB in coordination with all
Federal departments and agencies. The Administration
will work towards a standardized approach
to Federal cybersecurity personnel, ensuring Government-
wide visibility into talent gaps, as well as
unified solutions to fill those gaps in a timely and
prioritized manner.
30. Establish a Government Effectiveness Advanced
Research (GEAR) Center as a public-private partnership
to help the Government respond to innovative
technologies, business practices, and research
findings that present opportunities to improve mission
delivery, services to citizens, and stewardship
of public resources.
31. Transfer the National Background Investigations
Bureau from OPM to DOD, providing the opportunity
to achieve an efficient, effective, fiscally viable,
and secure operation that meets all agencies’
needs.
32. Expand upon existing agency evaluation capabilities
and push agencies to adopt stronger practices
that would generate more evidence about what
works and what needs improvement in order to
inform mission-critical decisions and policies.
These changes will help to address the large gaps and
inconsistencies across Government in Federal agencies’
ability to formally evaluate their programs.
"Billions and billions of dollars are being wasted on activities that are not delivering results for hardworking American taxpayers."
President Donald J. Trump
MISSION ALIGNMENT IMPERATIVES
A. Organizational Realignments to Enhance Mission and
Service Delivery
1. Merge the Departments of Education and Labor
into a single Cabinet agency, the Department of
Education and the Workforce, charged with meeting
the needs of American students and workers
from education and skill development to workplace
protection to retirement security. As part of the
merger, the Administration also proposes significant
Government-wide workforce development program
consolidations, streamlining separate programs in
order to increase efficiencies and better serve American
workers.
2. Move the non-commodity nutrition assistance
programs currently in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service
into the Department of Health and Human
Services—which will be renamed the Department
of Health and Public Welfare.
Also, establish a Council on Public Assistance, comprised
of all agencies that administer public benefits,
with statutory authority to set cross-program
policies including uniform work requirements.
3. Move the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Civil
Works out of the Department of Defense (DOD)
to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and
Department of the Interior (DOI) to consolidate
and align the Corps’ civil works missions with these
agencies.
4. Reorganize the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection
Service and the food safety functions of
HHS’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into a
single agency within USDA that would cover virtually
all the foods Americans eat.
5. Move USDA’s rural housing loan guarantee and
rental assistance programs to the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), allowing
both agencies to focus on their core missions and,
over time, further align the Federal Government’s
role in housing policy.
6. Merge the Department of Commerce’s (Commerce)
National Marine Fisheries Service with
DOI’s Fish and Wildlife Service. This merger would
consolidate the administration of the Endangered
Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act in
one agency and combine the Services’ science and
management capacity, resulting in more consistent
Federal fisheries and wildlife policy and improved
service to stakeholders and the public, particularly
on infrastructure permitting.
7. Consolidate portions of DOI’s Central Hazardous
Materials Program and USDA’s Hazardous Materials
Management program into the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program.
This consolidation would allow EPA to address
environmental cleanup under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response Compensation & Liability
Act (CERCLA) on Federal land regardless of which
of these agencies manages the land, while DOI and
USDA would maintain their existing environmental
compliance, bonding, and reclamation programs for
non-CERCLA sites.
8. Optimize Department of State (State) and U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID)
humanitarian assistance to eliminate duplication
of efforts and fragmentation of decision-making.
A specific reorganization proposal will be submitted
by State and USAID to OMB as part of their FY 2020
Budget request to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Federal Government’s humanitarian
assistance across State and USAID, establish unity
of voice and policy, and optimize outreach to other
donors to increase burden-sharing and drive reform
at the UN and in multilateral humanitarian policy.
9. Consolidate the U.S. Government’s development
finance tools, such as the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Development
Credit Authority (DCA) of USAID, into a new
Development Finance Institution in a reformed
and modernized way to leverage more privatesector
investment, provide strong alternatives to
state-directed initiatives, create more innovative
vehicles to open and expand markets for U.S. firms,
and enhance protections for U.S. taxpayers.
10. Transform USAID through an extensive, agency-
driven structural reorganization of headquarters
Bureaus and Independent Offices as a foundational
component of USAID’s overall plans to better
advance partner countries’ self-reliance, support
U.S. national security, and ensure the effectiveness
and efficiency of foreign assistance.
11. Move the policy function of the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) into the Executive Office of the
President, and elevate its core strategic mission
while devolving certain operational activities –
the delivery of various fee-for-service human
resources, IT services, and background investigations
– to other Federal entities better aligned to provide
non-strategic transaction processing services
that meet 21st Century needs. This new structure
would better accommodate an overhaul of the Federal
civil service statutory and regulatory framework.
12. Transfer responsibility for perpetual care and
operation of select military and veteran cemeteries
located on DOD installations to the Department
of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery
Administration. This transfer assures these cemeteries
will be maintained to national shrine standards
to continue the recognition of service of those
interred therein, gains efficiencies, and limits mission
overlap based on a common-sense approach to
good government.
13. Reorganize the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau
of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics under Commerce to increase cost-effectiveness
and improve data quality while simultaneously
reducing respondent burden on businesses
and the public. Together, these three agencies
account for 53 percent of the U.S. Statistical System’s
annual budget of $2.26 billion and share
unique synergies in their collection of economic
and demographic data and analysis of key national
indicators.
14. Consolidate the Department of Energy’s (DOE)
applied energy programs into a new Office of
Energy Innovation in order to maximize the benefits
of energy research and development and to
enable quicker adaptation to the Nation’s changing
energy technology needs.
15. Devolution of Activities from the Federal
Government
a) Sell the transmission assets owned and
operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
and the Power Marketing Administrations
within DOE, including those of Southwestern
Power Administration, Western Area Power
Administration, and Bonneville Power Administration,
to encourage a more efficient allocation
of economic resources and mitigate unnecessary
risk to taxpayers.
b) Restructure the U.S. Postal System to return
it to a sustainable business model or prepare
it for future conversion from a Government
agency into a privately-held corporation.
The President’s Task Force on the United States
Postal System will make recommendations on
reforms towards this goal in August 2018.
c) Reorganize DOT to better align the agency’s
core missions and programmatic responsibilities,
reduce transportation program
fragmentation across the Government, and
improve outcomes. Changes would include
spinning off Federal responsibility for operating
air traffic control services, integrating into DOT
certain coastal and inland waterways commercial
navigation activities and transportation security
programs, and reassessing the structure and
responsibilities of DOT’s Office of the Secretary.
16. Transform the way the Federal Government
delivers support for the U.S. housing finance
system to ensure more transparency and accountability
to taxpayers, and to minimize the risk of taxpayer-
funded bailouts, while maintaining responsible
and sustainable support for homeowners.
Proposed changes, which would require broader
policy and legislative reforms beyond restructuring
Federal agencies and programs, include ending the
conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
reducing their role in the housing market, and providing
an explicit, limited Federal backstop that is
on-budget and apart from the Federal support for
low- and moderate-income homebuyers.
17. Rethink how the Federal Government can drive
economic growth in concert with private-sector
investments in communities across the Nation by
coordinating and consolidating Federal economic
assistance resources into a Bureau of Economic
Growth at Commerce, producing a higher return on
taxpayer investment on projects that are transparent
and accountable.
18. Transform the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned
Corps into a leaner and more efficient
organization that is better prepared to respond
to public health emergencies and provide vital
health services, including by reducing the size
of the Corps and building up a Reserve Corps for
response in public health emergencies.
MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT
AND EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES
19. Establish an accelerated process for determining
whether one or more of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration’s (NASA) Centers
should be converted to, or host, a Federally
Funded Research and Development Center
(FFRDC). FFRDCs can potentially allow the agency
to be more agile in rapidly responding to changing
needs and in recruiting and retaining scientific and
technical expertise.
20. Consolidate the administration of graduate fellowships
for multiple Federal agencies under the
National Science Foundation in order to reduce the
total cost of administering those fellowships.
21. Optimize the Federal real property footprint by
making smart investments in renovations and new
facilities, driving down lease costs, and disposing of
unneeded real estate through a streamlined process
that results in the greatest return to the taxpayer.
22. Consolidate and streamline financial education
and literacy programs currently operating across
more than 20 Federal agencies to ensure effective
allocation of Federal financial literacy resources and
avoid unneeded overlap and duplication.
23. Strengthen the Small Business Administration
(SBA) as the voice of small business within
the Government by consolidating small business
focused guaranteed lending and Federal contracting
certification programs at SBA.
24. Consolidate protective details at certain civilian
Executive Branch agencies under the U.S.
Marshals Service in order to more effectively
and efficiently monitor and respond to potential
threats. Threat assessments would be conducted
with support from the U.S. Secret Service.
25. Consolidate the small grants functions, expertise,
and grantmaking from the Inter-American Foundation
and U.S. African Development Foundation
into USAID beginning in FY 2019. The consolidation
would be a significant step to reduce the proliferation
of Federal international affairs agencies that are
operating today, while also elevating community-led,
“local works” small grants as a development and
diplomacy tool for the U.S. Government.
26. Transition Federal agencies’ business processes
and recordkeeping to a fully electronic environment,
and end the National Archives and Records
Administration’s acceptance of paper records by
December 31, 2022. This would improve agencies’
efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness to citizens
by converting paper-based processes to electronic
workflows, expanding online services, and
enhancing management of Government records,
data, and information.
TRANSFORMATION URGENCY –
NEW CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS
27. Transform the way Americans interact with the
Federal Government by establishing a Government-
wide customer experience improvement
capability to partner with Federal agencies to help
them provide a modern, streamlined, and customer-
centric experience for citizens, businesses, and
other customers, comparable to leading privatesector
organizations.
28. Pursue a Next Generation (Next Gen) Financial
Services Environment as a new approach to Federal
Student Aid (FSA) processing and servicing
with a modernized, innovative, and integrated
architecture. Next Gen will save taxpayers millions
of dollars and will create an improved, world-class
customer experience for FSA’s more than 42 million
customers, while creating a more agile and streamlined
operating model.
29. Solve the Federal cybersecurity workforce
shortage by establishing a unified cyber workforce
capability across the civilian enterprise, working
through DHS and OMB in coordination with all
Federal departments and agencies. The Administration
will work towards a standardized approach
to Federal cybersecurity personnel, ensuring Government-
wide visibility into talent gaps, as well as
unified solutions to fill those gaps in a timely and
prioritized manner.
30. Establish a Government Effectiveness Advanced
Research (GEAR) Center as a public-private partnership
to help the Government respond to innovative
technologies, business practices, and research
findings that present opportunities to improve mission
delivery, services to citizens, and stewardship
of public resources.
31. Transfer the National Background Investigations
Bureau from OPM to DOD, providing the opportunity
to achieve an efficient, effective, fiscally viable,
and secure operation that meets all agencies’
needs.
32. Expand upon existing agency evaluation capabilities
and push agencies to adopt stronger practices
that would generate more evidence about what
works and what needs improvement in order to
inform mission-critical decisions and policies.
These changes will help to address the large gaps and
inconsistencies across Government in Federal agencies’
ability to formally evaluate their programs.
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