Update President's Council on Mgmt Improvement

4. Update and refocus the Executive Order establishing the President's
Council on Management Improvement. (2)

The President should revise the role and change the name of the
President Council on Management Improvement (PCMI) to reflect the
changed role of the council and its members in relation to the new PMC.

The PCMI, established in 1992 by Executive Order 12816, needs to focus
its work on improving administration, consistent with the overall
management responsibility of the President's Management Council.(22)

The PCMI is a large advisory body chaired by OMB's Deputy Director for
Management and composed of at least 44 members from executive branch
administrative-management staff organizations. Its members are
responsible for a variety of staff activities in their agencies
concerned with administrative matters (e.g., food service, security,
motor pools, building maintenance), personnel, budget, procurement,
information resource management, and other administrative management
issues corresponding to the compliance, clearance, and review
responsibilities of OMB, OPM, and GSA.

PCMI's name and some of its functions broadly focus on overall
management of the federal government. For example, the executive order
authorizes the PCMI to recommend "improvements in Government management
and operations . . . and . . . the development, review, revision, and
implementation of Government-wide policies in support of the central
management agencies of the federal government."(23) However, PCMI
activities are primarily focused on administrative management concerns
and not the implementation of broad management policies and programs.
Nevertheless, these activities are important to the continuous
improvement of government operations.

The PCMI should continue in operation, but its functions should be
clearly defined as improving administrative management. The
responsibilities and experience of the PCMI's members position it to act
as a clearinghouse, communications network, and advisory body for
reviewing the appropriateness of existing and proposed administrative
directives and regulations. A name such as the "President's Council on
Executive Branch Administration'' might better describe the PMCI's
functions.

Because of its size, the PCMI has proven to be too large and unwieldy to
be effective. The PCMI's membership should be reduced to a smaller
group, much like the President's Management Council.