Federal Interagency Coordinative Mechanisms: Varied Types and Numerous Devices (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
July 22, 2002 |
| Report Number |
RL31357 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Frederick M. Kaiser, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Interagency coordinative mechanisms at the federal level have become more prominent and prevalent recently. The Office of Homeland Security (OHS) and the companion Homeland Security Council (HSC), along with proposals for change, are the most visible. Other examples not only include such well-known entities as the National Security Council (NSC) and the so-called "drug czar" but also extend to a multiplicity of nearly anonymous working groups and task forces. Some of them have short life spans, while others have remained in place for long periods.
Seven different types of interagency coordinators are described here. They cross a broad spectrum of categories and cover a large number and wide variety of specific mechanisms and arrangements, established by public law, executive orders, administrative directives, and other legal instruments:
councils chaired by the President and consisting of the Vice President and the heads of certain departments and agencies, with the NSC, HSC, and the USA Freedom Corps Council being the only three;
committees whose members are department and agency heads, including ones connected to the NSC and to the HSC;
specially created offices and positions, especially the offices of Homeland Security, National Drug Control Policy, and USA Freedom Corps, along with their directors;
specified agency heads and other officersânotably, the Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA), Director of the Secret Service, and inspectors generalâwith qualified authority to enlist the assistance of organizations outside their own establishments;
sub-cabinet boards, committees, and councils, such as those associated with inspectors general and with chief financial officers;
transfers of personnel and resources among new or existing entities, by way of operational task forces, working groups, staff details, and redeployments; and
transfers of authority between and among agencies, through cross-designation and special deputation of personnel.
The diverse arrangements and devices, collectively numbering in the hundreds, extend across a broad range of policy areas; exist in a wide variety of institutional locations; consist of different echelons of members and categories of leaders; carry out different types of responsibilities; perform different operations and activities; and vary in terms of their capabilities, resources, and powers.
