Originally published Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:53 PM
Obama seeks power to shrink government
Seeking fast-track power to shrink the government, President Obama on Friday suggested combining six economic agencies into one.
Tribune Washington bureau
The day in D.C.
Appointments challenged: The National Federation of Independent Business and the National Right to Work Foundation on Friday filed the first legal challenge to President Obama's recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to find them unconstitutional. The groups said Obama cannot legally bypass the Senate to appoint the three new members to the NLRB, which referees labor-management disputes.Gun sales: A federal judge has dismissed a firearms-industry association's lawsuit seeking to block the Obama administration from requiring gun-store owners in Southwest border states to report when customers buy multiple high-powered rifles, saying the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives properly limited its requirement to purchasers of two or more semi-automatic rifles greater than .22 caliber within five days in California, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas.
Seattle Times news services
WASHINGTON — President Obama is asking Congress for fast-track authority to shrink the federal government, creating an election-year talking point even if House Republicans reject his request.
Obama's plan — to do away with the Department of Commerce and combine its core functions with five other agencies — is designed to cut costs and make it easier for U.S. businesses to deal with the government, administration officials said.
Under his blueprint, Commerce would be merged with the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Trade Representative's office, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade and Development Agency. The new, as-of-yet unnamed, agency would have its own secretary, plus another Cabinet-level member from the trade office.
The Obama administration said the consolidation would save $3 billion over 10 years and result in the elimination of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, though those reductions would occur through attrition rather than layoffs.
First, though, the president wants Congress to grant him the authority to expedite such an overhaul and future ones. That means reorganization plans would be subject to a simple up-or-down vote, and couldn't be amended. That authority expired during President Reagan's term.
It's hardly a given that Congress would grant Obama expedited authority. But proposing it gives Obama a proposal to talk up on the campaign trail, one that might be even more valuable if opposed by Republicans.
Republican leaders Friday expressed support for streamlining the government. But they are wary of the details and are concerned about proposals Obama might come up with down the road. Democrats are worried about what a Republican president might do with the power.
Downsizing the government is a hot topic among GOP presidential candidates, some of whom have vowed to eliminate agencies. With the issue bound to come up in the general-election campaign, Obama is emphasizing his efforts to reduce the bureaucracy.
"This is an area that should receive bipartisan support, because making our government more responsive and strategic and leaner — it shouldn't be a partisan issue," Obama said Friday.
Republicans didn't disagree, exactly.
"Given the president's record of growing government, we're interested to learn whether this proposal represents actual relief for American businesses or just the appearance of it," said Brendan Buck, press secretary for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
President Hoover first won the power to quickly streamline government, subject to a congressional veto. The Obama plan would tweak past practice by proposing that fast-tracking be allowed only when the changes would save taxpayers money. Congress would have 90 days to vote on the president's reorganization plan.
Material from The New York Times is included in this report.
