President Bush Revokes Order That Formed CIO Council

President Bush has revoked the executive order that formed the federal Chief Information Officers Council and set goals for simplifying the way agencies obtain and implement information technology goods and services, Federal Computer Week (FCW) reports.

President Clinton signed Executive Order 13011 into effect in 1996, and it was connected to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, according to FCW.

Though sources told FCW that the order was revoked because its central provisions are now covered by the Electronic Government Act of 2002, there might be more behind the move.

Consultant Paul Brubaker told FCW annulling the order could give the government more authority to break up the council in the future. “Getting rid of the EO could give the administration some flexibility in the ability to eliminate the CIO Council and the [Government Information Technology Services] Board, or at least come up with another, perhaps more effective, governance structure,” Brubaker told FCW.

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