President Obama Seeks Permission to Consolidate Government Agencies
President Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress to grant him permission to consolidate several government agencies currently serving overlapping missions.
The proposal that is at the heart of the request involves consolidating the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corp, the Trade and Development Agency, the Small Business Administration and various sectors of the Commerce Department. The idea has been discussed internally for years, but the Office of the President has not had such powers since the Reagan administration.
The request from Obama comes at a time when he has also requested a debt ceiling increase of another 1.2 Trillion, something that is sure to result in another dog and pony show over the coming weeks. Combining redundant agencies into a single entity is projected to save the government about $3 billion over the next ten years. Approximately 1000 to 2000 government jobs would also be lost through attrition, meaning that employees who retire or choose to leave the agency will not be replaced.
Early Republican response to the news has been tempered, with many Republicans wanting to see the details of the President's proposal before offering their opinion. On its surface, any plan to consolidate government agencies must be viewed as a step in the right direction, but implementing such measures will probably prove to be difficult, if not impossible.
With the November election now fast approaching, ideas such as these from the Obama administration will help to insulate the President from Republican assertions that his administration has overseen the largest expansion of government and debt in the history of the country.
The request from Obama comes at a time when he has also requested a debt ceiling increase of another 1.2 Trillion, something that is sure to result in another dog and pony show over the coming weeks. Combining redundant agencies into a single entity is projected to save the government about $3 billion over the next ten years. Approximately 1000 to 2000 government jobs would also be lost through attrition, meaning that employees who retire or choose to leave the agency will not be replaced.
Early Republican response to the news has been tempered, with many Republicans wanting to see the details of the President's proposal before offering their opinion. On its surface, any plan to consolidate government agencies must be viewed as a step in the right direction, but implementing such measures will probably prove to be difficult, if not impossible.
With the November election now fast approaching, ideas such as these from the Obama administration will help to insulate the President from Republican assertions that his administration has overseen the largest expansion of government and debt in the history of the country.
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