(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today supported President Bush’s call for “Sunset” and “Results” commissions to identify and eliminate ineffective federal programs.  The Sunset Commission would review the effectiveness of each federal program according to a schedule established by Congress.  Programs would automatically terminate unless Congress took specific action to continue them.  The Results Commission would work to uncover duplication of services in government programs.

First included in the President’s 2006 budget request, the commissions were detailed by the White House in a June 14 hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security. 

“Federal programs that do not demonstrate measurable results are rarely scrutinized.  Funding them is like forcing investors to buy shares in a business that is losing money,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Sunset provisions would place the burden of proof on programs to show their merit.”

The commissions tie into the President’s broader agenda for better management of tax dollars.  The administration rates federal programs according to the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), a 25-part questionnaire that determines whether or not a program is effective in its intended goals and fulfills national priorities.  PART has to date evaluated 60 percent of the federal budget, and found that only 15 percent of this $1.4 trillion is spent effectively.  Furthermore, PART found that more than 30 percent of federal programs and agencies are “ineffective” and fail to demonstrate results.

Comprehensive reviews of federal spending can save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.  President Reagan’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, also known as the Grace Commission, conducted the first-ever audit of the federal government.  Commission Chairman J. Peter Grace went on to co-found CAGW with syndicated columnist Jack Anderson; the group has helped save taxpayers $758.7 billion through the implementation of Grace Commission findings and other recommendations.

“Wasteful programs survive because they receive little attention except from the special interests that profit from them,” Schatz concluded. “But the president’s proposals could help correct this bias toward bigger government by forcing members of Congress to defend their pet programs, rather than allowing them to coast under the radar with ever-fattening budgets.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.