Memorandum on Streamlining the Bureaucracy

Memorandum for Heads of Departments and Agencies

Consistent with the National Performance Review's recommendation to reduce the executive branch civilian work force by 252,000, or not less than 12 percent, by the close of fiscal year 1999, I hereby direct each head of an executive department or agency to prepare, as a first step, a streamlining plan to be submitted to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget not later than December 1, 1993.

The streamlining plans shall be prepared in accordance with the following:

1. Each executive department's and agency's plans should address, among other things, the means by which it will reduce the ratio of managers and supervisors to other personnel, with a goal of reducing the percentage who are supervisors or managers in halving the current ratio within 5 years.

2. The streamlining plans should be characterized by (a) delegation of authority, (b) decentralization, (c) empowerment of employees to make decisions, and (d) mechanisms to hold managers and employees accountable for their performance.

3. Each plan shall address ways to reduce overcontrol and micromanagement that now generate "red tape" and hamper efficiency in the Federal Government. Each streamlining plan should also propose specific measures to simplify the internal organization and administrative processes of the department or agency.

4. The streamlining plans should further seek to realize cost savings, improve the quality of Government services, and raise the morale and productivity of the department or agency.

5. All independent regulatory commissions and agencies are requested to comply with the provisions of this memorandum.

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, September 11, 1993.