Are there legislative options beyond (or in addition to) presidential reorganization authority that could encourage collaboration and not just move boxes? Typically, the cultural, administrative, and legal barriers to working together collaboratively inside the federal government are too high and they discourage efforts to collaborate (more on this in a future post). The Obama AdministrationRead… Read more »
Should government use Legos to inspire its reorganization approach? Structural reorganization initiatives – like the creation of the Department of Homeland Security — are slow, take an enormous amount of effort, and require years to become effective. Ultimately, the new structure becomes rigid and needs to be revisited. Many observers advocate creating more adaptable approachesRead… Read more »
Would “virtual agencies” be an effective alternative to traditional structural reorganization initiatives? If so, what needs done to make them happen? When Vice President Gore’s reinventing government team was being formed in the early 1990s, he encouraged it to not focus on reorganizing agencies and programs, but rather to fix what’s inside the agencies. HeRead… Read more »
The political winds are blowing favorably for government reorganization for the first time since Jimmy Carter’s efforts in the 1970s. As a result, the conversation on government reorganization is shifting from “should we” to “how do we” reorganize. What are some of the lessons from past efforts? At one point, the advice was: don’t doRead… Read more »
President Obama asked Congress for authority to reorganize government in his 2012 State of the Union address. Several weeks later, he proposed legislation to do so. What is in that bill? What Is Presidential Reorganization Authority? Beginning in 1932, presidents were periodically granted authority by Congress to submit plans to reorganize agencies. Over time, itRead… Read more »
Last month, the Senate held a hearing on re-tooling government for the 21st century. What’s the background behind recent pushes to reorganize the government and how do they different from perennial calls to do so over the past three decades that have gone no where? The Senate hearing focused on recent U.S. Government Accountability OfficeRead… Read more »
One of the most absurd tools that the Republicans use in their distraction campaign against us is the incessant whining about President Obama’s “czars”. Because the monarchs of imperial Russia were called czars, they assume that you will believe that anyone associated with that title is a communist and, therefore, evil. Yes, that’s what theyRead… Read more »
There’s a completely absurd rumor out there now that President Obama has issued 15 Executive Orders giving himself the power to take control of all transportation, electrical power, communications media, food, and other national resources. It’s an absolute lie. President John Kennedy issued those order numbers–10990 through 11005–and they have nothing to do with thoseRead… Read more »
Vienna, Virginia-December 20th, 2011– MicroLink, a HP, Autonomy Company and an award-winning partner of Microsoft, announces the addition of its Government Records Assessment & Strategic Planning (GRASP) offering to its Information Governance services. GRASP was developed by MicroLink as a response to President Obama’s records management initiative for all federal agencies in 120 days toRead… Read more »
It is always with a hint of mirth that I watch the quadrennial analysis of political pundits who seem befuddled by the electorate’s behavior. This year the attention falls squarely on the Republican primary voters who are shifting their preferences with the rise and fall of the personal predilections of the various presidential candidates (theRead… Read more »