Congress to Give President Obama More Power?

President Obama announced his plan to consolidate federal agencies in an effort to reduce $3 billion over the next 10 years. The Associated Press reported the merger would get rid of duplicate overhead costs, human resources divisions and programs; this plan comes a day after his request to increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion.

During the President’s address, Obama commented, “There are five different entities dealing with housing. There are more than a dozen agencies dealing with food safety…”

It is now up to Congress to either approve Obama’s request, or deny it. The last time a president had this type of re-organizational power was when Ronald Reagan was in office. It’s been decades since a re-organizational effort has happened and should be seriously considered.

During an election year, political moves are watched very closely and this announcement comes at a time when Republican pressure is growing and standing by his word is critical. President Obama made a promise to tackle a smart reorganization of the government a year ago during his State of the Union speech.

The Washington post quotes Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), as saying “A year after raising the issue…it’s interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control.”

Obama’s plan politically would put pressure on the Republican controlled congress to move forward with consolidating the government. In addition to putting pressure on Congress, this move also echoes several reports from Republicans that government is getting too big and needs to be reduced.

Republican primary candidate Newt Gingrich has slammed big government several times throughout his political history and most recently during the debates. The President’s latest move to streamline federal agencies will prove to be a rough topic for GOP candidates, as it has yet to be seen whether Republicans will now back President Obama on a topic they usually support.

One area that may prove troublesome is what is being sacrificed for the $3 billion savings; while agencies would be more efficient, more than 1,000 jobs will be lost in the transition. A thousand jobs is a significant number and will undoubtedly cause strife with some voters. Lawmakers are also reportedly concerned about the U.S. trade policy and whether any changes to the agency would cause harm to relations.

At a time when voters are worried about the future of the government and the added bureaucracy and red-tape, this move comes at an opportune time for President Obama. While consolidating the government would prove to be beneficial, more transparency and exact details about what will be done needs to be revealed before an answer should be given.


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