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With one convention down and one wrapping up this week, presidential hopefuls George W. Bush and Al Gore have hammered out their positions on issues that matter to voters. Here's a look at where they stand on issues that matter to federal employees:
| Issue | Bush | Gore |
| Defense | ||
| Summary | Embraces high-tech weapons, including ones for a national missile defense program. | Advocates spending increases; would exercise caution on national missile defense plans. |
| Defense spending | Would increase defense spending, particularly for troops' pay and for weapons research. | Would continue recent steady increases in defense spending. |
| National missile defense | Would dramatically expand the proposed system of ground-based rockets, probably adding sea-based and possibly air- and space-based interceptors; would do so, if need be, at the expense of the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia and of arms control in general. | Would continue President Clinton's cautious course by balancing a limited, ground-based system against international objections and the strictures of the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia. |
| Gays in the military | Would retain the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows closeted gays and lesbians to serve in the military. | Rejects the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy as unworkable, and would work to overturn the law that bans openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military. |
| Modernizing the military | Would increase military research-and-development spending by $20 billion over five years and focus research on revolutionary weapons that would "skip a generation" ahead of current technology. | Focuses on reorganizing the Pentagon, particularly streamlining business practices and increasing cooperation among the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, rather than on developing radically new weapons for each service. |
| Government Operations | ||
| Summary | Proposes dramatic restructuring and cuts to reduce the size of government. | Has been a longtime champion of "reinventing government." Touts federal staffing reductions and efficiency gains made on his watch. |
| Government jobs | Would eliminate 40,000 civil service management jobs. Would give more government work to private contractors. Would change civil service rules to reward individual performance. | Says that the Clinton-Gore Administration has eliminated 370,000 federal jobs over eight years. Has not specifically called for more job cuts, outsourcing of federal work, or changes to civil service rules. Supports giving federal workers more on-the-job flexibility, as long as goals are met. |
| E-government | Would offer more government services and data online. Would create a chief information officer and furnish $100 million for computer automation. | Would offer more government services and data online, including his Across America initiative, which would target students, the elderly, and rural communities. |
| Oversight | Would establish a bipartisan Sunset Review Board to eliminate duplicative and ineffective programs. | Has not stated a position. As an eight-year incumbent, has less reason than challenger Bush to emphasize oversight. |