Practical Effect Questionable

The suggestion of an order to open all commercial type jobs to privatization has upset federal unions, which were main advocates of the congressional move to bar the use of numeric goals. The potential practical effect of such a sweeping order is questionable, though, since by the administration’s own reckoning many agencies have had trouble gearing up to meet even the 15 percent goal. Also, administration officials haven’t made it clear what time frame they would want to apply. One reason the administration set the 15 percent goal was that privatization drives by previous administrations made relatively little progress in the absence of firm goals and mechanisms to compel agencies to pursue contracting-out. The Bush administration also has put an enforcement mechanism in place; progress on privatization is one of the areas on which agencies are rated for their compliance with the White House’s management initiatives.