Commerce Employees To Cut Waste and Save Taxpayer Money
This morning, President Obama signed an Executive Order to cut waste and to promote more efficient spending as part of the administration-wide Campaign to Cut Waste. Commerce Department employee Roger Rhoads joined President Obama as he signed the Executive Order in the Oval Office.
Rhoads led the effort to identify and shutdown unused cell phones at Commerce. The department saved $1.8M annually by disconnecting or suspending 81 percent of the 3,200 wireless lines showing zero usage for the previous three months as well as by optimizing rate plans.
The Executive Order sets bold goals for agencies to reduce spending on travel; limit the number of information technology devices (e.g. cell phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops) that can be issued to individual employees; stop unnecessarily printing documents that can be posted online; shrink the executive fleet of the federal government; and stop using taxpayer dollars to buy swag–the unnecessary plaques, clothing and other promotional items that agencies purchase. Overall spending in the areas covered by the Executive Order will be reduced by 20 percent, saving billions.
The Department of Commerce is also reducing the number of its fleetdrivers. Reductions in drivers and vehicles are expected to generate $100,000 in annual savings.