1.3.4: Congressional Direction

Limit the extensive direction Congress now gives agencies about how they should spend money.

Other Information:

Convince the Congress to limit the extensive direction it now gives agencies about how they should spend money. This approach would take advantage of the substantially increased ability of the executive branch to report on its performance in attaining program goals. Despite this information, the Congress has continued to give agencies detailed directions in authorizations and appropriations bills about how and where money should be spent on specific inputs and activities. This practice can be justified when agencies abuse the discretion they are given by the Congress. But for other agencies, giving them greater flexibility about how inputs are used and which activities they carry out, contingent on their achieving measured results, could allow managers to reduce unnecessary costs while improving performance. Presidents should be given the chance to run more agencies in ways that can give citizens a greater bang for their buck, and the Congress should hold administrations accountable on this measure.

Stakeholder(s):

• Congress


• Federal Agencies

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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