Federal Agency Consolidation
In his 2011 State of the Union Address, President Obama said that his Administration would “develop a proposal to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the Federal Government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America.” On January 13, he followed up on that pledge by asking Congress to grant him “fast-track” authority to reorganize and streamline agencies of the Executive Branch. Such authority was instituted under President Franklin Roosevelt but expired under President Ronald Reagan. Initially, the President wants to combine the Commerce Department’s trade and finance functions with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Office of…
