CABINET COUNCIL ON MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION MEETING #21 NOVEMBER 2 1983 THE ROOSEVELT ROOM MINUTES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B01152R001201450093-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 5, 2008
• Sequence Number: 93
• Publication Date: November 2, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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CABINET COUNCIL ON MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Meeting #21
November 2, 1983
The Roosevelt Room
Attendees: Meese, Regan, Smith, Block, Devine, Svahn, Wright, Brown,
Burnley, Kline, Porter, Cribb, Walters, Gibson, Horner,
Baroody, Turner, Shull, McNamar, Schmults, Walker,
vonRabb, Nelson, Cooke, Korten, O'Shaughnessy.
Consulting Services Controls (CM#416)
Mr. Meese thanked Bud Brown for accepting chairmanship of the CCMA
Working Group on Consulting Services Controls, and announced the other
members (copy attached). He emphasized the potential for savings
inherent in the study.
Mr. Brown agreed to start the study expeditiously and recommended to
the Council an article from Forbes entitled "Are All These Consultants
Really Necessary?" (October 10, 1983, p.136). Mr. Wright pointed out
that if the working group could produce at least preliminary savings
estimates within 45 days, they could be incorporated in the FY 1985
budget.
Action: Mr. Meese asked that the Working Group be activated, produce
a report for the CCMA within 75 days, and attempt a preliminary
savings estimate by agency within 45 days.
Consolidation of Border Inspection Stations (CM#392)
Mr. Meese noted that this issue has had a long and complex history.
Mr. Wright summarized the many earlier efforts to resolve it, and the
strong institutional feelings that exist in both Customs and INS. He
stated that both agencies agree that consolidation is needed, but
could not reach agreement on how to consolidate. OMB's efforts last
year to improve the inspection process through budget actions did not
work very well, and joint pilot projects by Customs and INS have not
produced sufficient improvement. He noted that the Grace Commission
has recommended consolidation, and that the travel industry is
extremely interested in virtually any resolution that will. facilitate
passenger traffic.
Mr. Wright then explained that OMB's role as arbiter of this issue was
mandated by Congress, and that recent efforts have focused intensively
on arriving at a middle-ground compromise position acceptable to both
agencies. He stated that he and Messrs. McNamar and Schmults had
reached such a compromise for consideration by the CCMA. The
compromise basically would be to:
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o Place primary inspection at land ports in INS
o Place primary inspection at air and sea ports in Customs
o Transfer the Customs Border Patrol to INS
The primary focus would be on management improvement: of these
activities rather than savings, and a periodic evaluation would be
conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the changes. A working
group consisting of Justice, Treasury, USDA, and OMB would be formed
immediately to work on these and other related issues to develop an
implementation plan for final CCMA approval within three weeks. The
agencies would then jointly present this recommendation, once
approved, to the congressional committees.
Attorney General Smith congratulated Messrs. Wright, Schmults, and
McNamar on the compromise effort, and stated that the issue should be
addressed from a management standpoint, not whether an agency wins or
loses. He pointed out how extremely difficult it is politically to
make changes, but that good law enforcement along our borders had to
be the overriding concern and goal. He endorsed Option Five
(passenger inspections to INS, cargo inspections to Customs) as the
best approach absent a compromise.
He expressed support for the compromise proposed and for a working
group to pursue an agreement between the agencies.
Secretary Regan described the issue as a classic turf battle between
entrenched bureaucracies that has been inherited by this
administration. He emphasized the importance of getting INS and
Customs,to agree on the details of the compromise approach, and that
three weeks seems to be a good timeframe for doing so. He suggested
that a letter to both agencies be co-signed by him and the Attorney
General to get this process moving.
Secretary Block expressed support for the compromise approach, and
willingness to facilitate the working group process. Secretary Regan
noted the great deal of interface with USDA at inspection points, and
the involvement of about forty other agencies as well. Mr. Walker
described an option not examined to date, dealing with land versus
port border patrols. Mr. Schmults stated that such a split of
functions would be very controversial and could not be agreed to.
Mr. Meese stressed the importance of arriving at substantial unanimity
on the proposal that goes forward so that a united front is presented
to Congress, and so that the issue is not vulnerable to becoming
embroiled in other controversies. Mr. Svahn noted that even then the
issue, because of its controversial nature, could get tangled up with
other trade-offs and compromises. Mr. Meese said that while the
compromise would produce a net decrease in resources for Customs, it
would be offset by planned enforcement increases. Mr. Svahn stressed
the importance of addressing potential employee concerns over whatever
solution is proposed. The Attorney General pointed out that most
changes could be made by attrition and a careful phase-in.
Action: Mr. Meese directed that OMB establish a working group
composed of OMB, Justice, Treasury, USDA, and other agencies as
appropriate to:
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0 Develop the compromise proposal in further detail, and prepare a
recommendation for CCMA approval in 3-4 weeks.
o Include an assessment of employee group and congressional
committee reaction to the recommendation.
He asked Mr. Wright to work with Messrs. Schmults and McNamar in
preparing a letter, to be co-signed by Secretary Regan and Attorney
General Smith, directing the agencies involved to. carry out the above
actions..
Personnel Classification/Position Management (CM#333)
Mr. Devine resumed the briefing begun but not completed at the CCMA
planning meeting of October 6. He pointed out the Grace Commission's
findings of a 50% greater "bulge" in the GS 11-15 levels in government
than in the private sector. He advocated handling the problem through
the budget process, once the overall goals are set, giving the
agencies flexibility because the reductions would be realized through
attainment of dollar targets, rather than on a position basis. The
overall goal would be to eliminate 2% of the GS 11-15 positions per
year over the next four years, thereby saving an estimated $2.7
billion, and $.8 billion each year thereafter.
In response to a question from Mr. Meese, Mr. Devine explained that
OPM would monitor the agencies' compliance, but not play an
enforcement role, or "red circle" specific jobs. Mr. Wright expressed
support for using the budget approach, but stressed the need for
taking agency mission into account for setting the goals. He asked
for further discussion with Mr. Devine in this regard.
Mr. O'Shaughnessy agreed that flexibility is especially needed in
agencies having large concentrations of technical personnel. Mr.
Svahn agreed, stating that department-level management would be in the
best position to know the real needs of the agency. Mr. Devine said
that dollar targets at the agency level offer the greatest
flexibility, and that average grade is not an effective control for
this purpose. Mr. Brown pointed out that agency level targets are
good, but the problem will still exist for agency management of
dealing with certain bureaus that are harder to handle than others.
Mr. Wright urged that the process be set in motion now, so that
anticipated savings can be made part of the OMB FY 3.985 budget
"passback" numbers. Mr. Brown said that the effort would require time
to really do well. Mr. Devine noted that savings can be achieved
early by letting positions lie vacant, and then later bringing people
in at lower levels.
Action: Mr. Meese asked Mr. Devine to work with Mr. Wright on the
proposal, and to develop a short, two-page paper for CCMA review. The
paper should include the overall process, savings targets, agency
goals, time-frames, and the respective roles of OPM,, OMB, and the
agencies.
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Members
Bud Brown (Chairman), Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce
Gerald Carmen, Administrator, General Services Administration
Jim Burnley, Deputy Secretary, Designate, Department of
Transportation
Ford Ford, Under Secretary, Department of Labor
Loren Smith, Chairman, Administrative Conference of the United
States
Martha Hesse, Assistant Secretary for Management and
Administration, Department of Energy
Jim Wade, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Research and
Engineering, Department of Defense
Chuck Heatherly, Deputy Under Secretary for Management,
Department of Education
Arlene Triplett, Associate Director (Designate) for Management,
Purpose
The purpose of the Working Group is to develop a policy that
ensures more effective and efficient use of consultants by
Federal departments and agencies.
The Working Group will perform four major tasks:
1. Describe the extent of use of consultants currently.
2. Determine why the OMB Model Control System is not used by
some departments and agencies.
3. Inventory and describe consultant control systems that
have been developed by departments and agencies.
4: Formulate recommendations for government wide control of
the use of consultants.
Schedule
This would be a 75-day effort, with a report due to CCMA in
January, 1984.
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