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Memorandum on Use of Government Vehicles

February 10, 1993

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Use of Government Vehicles

The use of Government vehicles for daily home-to-work transportation of high-level executive branch officials is a privilege designed to facilitate the efficient operation of the Government and to provide security to key Government employees with substantial military and national security responsibilities. In the past, however, this privilege has been abused by certain executive branch officials and has come to exemplify a Government out of touch with the American people. Using such perquisites of office outside of the scope of our mission to serve the public is unacceptable. Accordingly, I believe that there must be a strong presumption against the general granting of this privilege absent security concerns or compelling operational necessity.

The law authorizes me to designate up to six employees in the Executive Office of the President to receive daily home-to-work transportation in Government vehicles. In addition, the law allows me to designate up to 10 additional employees of Federal agencies to receive this benefit. However, for the reasons stated above, in my Administration, no officer or employee of the Executive Office of the President or any other Federal agency is authorized by me to receive use of a Government vehicle for daily home-to-work transportation pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1344(b)(1)(B)&(C). The only exceptions, for compelling national security reasons, are the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Chief of Staff of the White House.

The law also allows Cabinet Secretaries and other Executive Level I officials to authorize one principal deputy to use a Government vehicle for daily home-to-work transportation. The use of Government vehicles for this purpose is simply not appropriate for Government officials at this level absent security or operational requirements. Accordingly, by this memorandum I am instructing you to refrain from authorizing the use of Government vehicles for your deputies for daily home-to-work transportation. This memorandum does not prevent you from authorizing the temporary use of Government vehicles in accordance with the requirements of the law.

I further direct each executive department or agency to reduce the number of executive motor vehicles (except armored vehicles) that it owns or leases by at least 50 percent by the end of fiscal year 1993. Each agency will report on its compliance to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget at that time. I order the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, to issue any further directives necessary to implement this memorandum and to monitor compliance.

Finally, I urge the head of each agency to strictly enforce the Governmentwide regulations prohibiting the unauthorized use of Government vehicles, including the use of corrective or disciplinary action where appropriate.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

William J. Clinton, Memorandum on Use of Government Vehicles Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/217728

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