President Sends Draft Bill to Congress to Consolidate Agencies (USTR, Ex-Im, Etc. 1st Up)
On February 16, 2012, the Administration issued a press release stating that it sent Congress the Consolidating and Reforming Government Act of 2012, which would reinstate for two years certain authority that would allow the President to put forward, for expedited consideration by Congress, plans to consolidate and reform the Federal government for the 21st century. The President has stated that his first focus if enacted would be to consolidate the six agencies or parts of agencies that focus primarily on business and trade into one department. This would include: the Commerce Department’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
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(One day later, he issued a memorandum to the heads of the executive departments and agencies stating that he could not wait for Congress to act on this draft legislation, and that the administration must do all it can on its own to make the most efficient and effective use of the federal government's trade, foreign investment, export and business programs and functions. See ITT's Online Archives 12022129 for summary.)
A cover letter to draft bill text and section-by-section analysis states that:
- Reorg for staff reduction or cost savings. The legislation would permit the creation, abolition, consolidation, transfer, or renaming of an executive agency or department if the proposed reorganization reduced the overall number of agencies or achieved cost savings.
- Allow Congress up/down vote on plan. It would maintain the procedures from the 1984 reorganization authority that ensure that the Congress has a full voice. It provides a process for an up-or-down vote to approve reorganization plans in both Houses of Congress in an expedited fashion.
- Amendments to plan. The bill would leave unchanged standard provisions from prior reorganization authorities that permit the President to make amendments to a plan pending in committee to accommodate feedback, preclude reorganization plans from covering more than one logically consistent subject matter, and allow no more than three plans to be pending before Congress at one time.
- Must be renewed after 2 years. And it would provide that the reorganization authority sunsets after two years, thereby allowing the Congress to regularly reconsider its authorization.
(On January 13, 2012, the President announced that he would seek Congressional passage of this Act, and that his first focus would be to consolidate the six agencies or parts of agencies that focus primarily on business and trade into one more efficient department. This would include: the Commerce Department’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. See ITT's Online Archives 12011711 for summary.)