President George W. Bush: Resources for the President's Team The White House
HOME
THE PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT AGENDA THE PRESIDENT & HIS LEADERSHIP TEAM TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
President George W. Bush meets with Dan Bartlett, center, and Josh Bolten in the Oval Office Jan. 9, 2003.  White House photo by Eric Draper.
The Deputy Director for Mgmt
PMA updates, best practices, and general information.
Scorecard
Grading Implementation of the PMA.
Human Capital
Initiative updates, best practices, and general information.
Commercial Services Management
Initiative updates, best practices, and general information.
Improving Financial Performance
Initiative updates, best practices, and general information.
E-Gov
Initiative updates, best practices, and general information.
Performance Improvement
Initiative updates, best practices, and general information.
Sharing Best Practices
Stories of achieving breaktrough results in government.
FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PMA

Why does the President have a Management Agenda?
The President has called for a government that focuses on priorities and executes them well. Securing the homeland, waging war on terrorism abroad, and revitalizing the economy are the most important priorities but even they will not be addressed by simply devoting money to them. The assumption that more government spending gets more results is not generally true and is seldom tested. It is potentially wrong for two reasons. First, the program may not actually achieve the results everyone expects. Second, it ignores the fact that improvements in the management of programs can result in great results for less money by realizing the same productivity gains commonly expected in the private sector. By focusing on performance we can achieve the desired results at limited additional cost or, in some cases, a reduction in spending. We can and should get more for less.

What is the President's Management Agenda?
The President's Management Agenda is a bold strategy for improving the management and performance of the federal government. The Agenda contains five government-wide and nine agency-specific goals to improve federal management and deliver results that matter to the American people.

What are the five government-wide goals?
The five government-wide goals are: Why were these five goals chosen?
The President's Management Agenda was designed to "address the most apparent deficiencies where the opportunity to improve performance is the greatest." It focuses on remedies to problems generally agreed to be serious, and commits to implement them fully.

What are the agency-specific goals?
In addition to the five government-wide initiatives, there are nine agency-specific reforms:
  • Faith-based and Community Initiatives,
  • Privatization of Military Housing,
  • Better Research and Development Investment Criteria,
  • Elimination of Fraud and Error in Student Aid Programs and Deficiencies in Financial Management,
  • Housing and Urban Development Management and Performance,
  • Broadened Health Insurance Coverage through State Initiatives,
  • A "Right-Sized" Overseas Presence,
  • Reform of Food Aid Programs,
  • Coordination of Veteran's Affairs and Defense Programs and Systems.
Why were these nine agency-specific goals selected?
While agencies face a long list of critical management and performance problems, these nine were chosen to begin the effort based on several criteria:
  • Severity of the problem and the importance of the problem to those served;
  • Direct and demonstrable benefit to citizens;
  • Opportunity to make a dramatic and material difference in program performance; and
  • Probability of achieving improvements in the near term.
As we begin to see results, we will focus our attention on additional reform opportunities.

Who is responsible for implementing the President's Management Agenda?
In July 2001, the President directed Cabinet Secretaries and agency heads to designate a "chief operating officer" to have responsibility for day-to-day operations of departments and agencies. Typically, the department’s No. 2 official, its "chief operating officer", has agency-wide authority and reports directly to the agency head. The assignment places "management" with Presidential appointed officials, primarily at the deputy secretary level, where policy and management meet.

What is the role of the President's Management Council?
At the same time he asked agency heads to designate chief operating officers (COOs), the President re-established the President’s Management Council (PMC) consisting of the COOs. The PMC provides an integrating mechanism for policy implementation within agencies and across government. Importantly, the PMC is a way for the departments and agencies to support the President’s government-wide priorities and to build a community of management leadership that learns, solves problems, and innovates together.
  | Privacy Statement