Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
White House budget official Jeffrey Zients told reporters the reorganization would fold together the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other trade bodies now spread across Washington, giving businesses a single point of contact and ensuring federal spending goes further to boost exports.
Obama was set to deliver remarks at 11:20 a.m. on the new, yet-to-be-named department that would be tasked with achieving his goal of doubling exports in five years, a key part of his economic agenda as the November presidential vote nears.
The Democrat was expected to cast it as an effort to make the government leaner and more efficient, reducing bureaucracy for export-oriented companies.
The proposal - the first of a series of consolidation steps Obama is expected to pursue - comes amid growing concerns about huge federal deficits and the size of the government.
Obama wants to put the USTR, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corp, the Trade and Development Agency, the Small Business Administration and parts of the Commerce Department under a new roof - something that has been under discussion for years.
Last March, he asked White House budget officials to examine whether to merge the groups as a way to save money and ensure that U.S. export promotion is as efficient as possible.
A White House official said on Friday the goal of the consolidation was to save $3 billion over 10 years. It may also lead to the loss of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs through attrition, the official said.
TRADE TIES
Obama will seek a vote in Congress within three months on the proposal, which may meet resistance from some lawmakers who have voiced concerns the risks of putting small, focused trade agencies into a large bureaucracy.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, one of Obama's fellow Democrats, and some other senior lawmakers have argued that the USTR, a cabinet-level agency of some 240 career employees, may lose its focus in a larger department.
But Obama is expected to say the move will help achieve his goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years - from $1.57 trillion in 2009 to $3.14 trillion by 2015. He has been trying to hitch the U.S. economy to faster growth in developing markets such as countries in Asia through closer trade ties.
With the election nearing, the White House has been working to highlight Obama's efforts to get things done in Washington in spite of gridlock in Congress. Resistance to the reorganization proposal would be cast by the White House as an example of Capitol Hill obstructionism.
"We think this is the sort of thing that should have bipartisan support," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Obama's proposal appeared to catch Republicans by surprise. They said they were reserving judgment until they had seen more details of what he was proposing.
"After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it's interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
"We'll be sure to give it a careful review once the White House provides us with the details of what it is he wants to do," he said.
Republican presidential candidates vying to face Obama in the November election have been focusing in their campaign speeches on the size of the federal government and U.S. deficits, saying they pose a risk to the U.S. economy.
(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer, Stella Dawson Susan Heavey, Editing by Ross Colvin and Philip Barbara)
WASHINGTON |
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked Congress on Friday for power to
consolidate agencies that promote U.S. exports, a move he cast as
crucial to streamlining a sprawling bureaucracy struggling to meet the
demands of a 21st century economy.In proposing to close the Commerce Department and merge six trade and business agencies, Obama could help inoculate himself against Republican charges that he is a big-government liberal who has presided over one of the largest expansions of U.S. government in history.
Obama has launched a number of initiatives since late last year as part of a White House strategy to cast him as an activist president running for re-election in November against a "do-nothing" Congress as well as the eventual Republican presidential nominee.
The power Obama has requested would let him design changes that Congress could vote for or against, without revisions. The export plan was described by White House officials as a first step, with further consolidation likely to follow if Obama gets the authority he wants.
Ronald Reagan, an idol of conservative Republicans, was the last president who had authority to reorganize the government in the way Obama is seeking.
Analysts were skeptical that Republicans in Congress would approve Obama's request for expanded powers in an election year, although the initial Republican reaction appeared broadly positive.
"We hope the president isn't simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach. However, eliminating duplicative programs and making the federal government more simple, streamlined, and business-friendly is always an idea worth exploring," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.
Obama, in remarks at the White House, said the overhaul would make it easier for U.S. businesses to get help to export their goods, a key part of his economic agenda.
"With this authority, we'd help businesses grow, save businesses time and save taxpayer dollars," he said, outlining his request for powers to reorganize the federal government that Congress will need to consider within three months.
Obama wants to fold together the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and five other export bodies now spread across Washington into a new, yet-to-be-named department, giving businesses a single point of contact and trying to ensure that federal spending goes further to boost sales abroad.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - now part of Commerce - would be absorbed into the Department of the Interior under the plan, which also elevates the Small Business Administration to a cabinet-level post to underscore the White House's focus on smaller companies as an engine of job growth and recovery.
BUBBLES AND SALMON
A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney, the front-runner in the Republican presidential nomination race who has said he will make it a top priority to reduce the scale of government, cast Obama's move as an election year stunt.
"It's ironic that President Obama, who has grown government beyond belief for the past three years, is calling for consolidation of government. It is unfortunate that he is only doing so now to curry political favor in an election year," said spokeswoman Andrea Saul.
Seeking to illustrate how complex government bureaucracy had become, Obama unveiled a slide with a bubble diagram that showed a dizzying array of websites, toll-free numbers and customer service centers that were available to small business owners seeking advice on loans and how to export.
"It's a mess," Obama said, after noting his favorite example of the bureaucratic maze.
"As it turns out, the Interior Department is in charge of salmon in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them in saltwater," he said. "If you're wondering what the genesis of this was, apparently, it had something to do with President (Richard) Nixon being unhappy with his Interior Secretary for criticizing him about the Vietnam War. And so he decided not to put NOAA in what would have been a more sensible place."
With U.S. unemployment still high and the economy growing slowly, Obama is trying to boost U.S. trade ties with developing markets such as Asia as a way to spur output. He has set a goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years - from $1.57 trillion in 2009 to $3.14 trillion by 2015.
Trade experts said having one agency in charge of exports should help. "For the business community, engagement with overlapping agencies streamlined into a coherent process would be an advantage," said Nick Consonery of the Eurasia Group.
A White House official said the goal of streamlining the trade agencies was to save $3 billion over 10 years. It may also lead to the loss of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs through attrition, the official said.
(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer, Stella Dawson, Susan Heavey, Steve Holland, Glenn Somerville and Matt Spetalnick, Editing by Ross Colvin and Vicki Allen)
WASHINGTON |
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked Congress on Friday for broad powers to overhaul the U.S. government and untangle what he called an "outdated bureaucratic maze" that makes it hard for U.S. businesses to sell their goods abroad.
Obama said he wanted to consolidate six trade and business agencies into a single export body to help the United States better compete in a 21st century economy and modernize a government he said had grown too complex.
The move could help inoculate him against charges from Republicans hoping to unseat him in November that he is a feckless liberal who has presided over one of the largest expansions of the U.S. government in history.
Ronald Reagan, an idol of conservative Republicans, was the last U.S. president who had the authority to reorganize the government in a similar fashion. But Obama must contend with some Democrats who worry that merging the agencies will backfire and some Republicans who are unwilling to give the president wider powers. Analysts were skeptical that Congress would approve Obama's request in an election year.
The consolidation of power Obama is seeking would allow him to design structural changes to the government that lawmakers would have to approve or reject, without revisions.
Obama said he wanted to move the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and five other export bodies spread across Washington into a new trade department, giving businesses a single point of contact and trying to ensure that Washington's export promotion packs a punch.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - now part of the Commerce Department - would be absorbed by the Department of the Interior under the plan, and the Census Bureau as well as other statistical agencies would find a home in the new, yet-to-be-named department. The Commerce Department would then be closed.
A spokeswoman for Mitt Romney, the front-runner in the Republican presidential nomination race who has said he would make it a top priority to reduce the scale of government, cast Obama's proposals as campaign spin.
"It's ironic that President Obama, who has grown government beyond belief for the past three years, is calling for consolidation of government. It is unfortunate that he is only doing so now to curry political favor in an election year," spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
EXPORT PROMOTION
In a speech delivered at the White House, Obama said the overhaul would make it easier for U.S. businesses to work with the government and boost their overseas sales, essential to his economic goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015.
He also announced he would elevate the Small Business Administration to a Cabinet-level post - his inner circle of senior officials - with immediate effect to underscore his focus on smaller companies as an engine of job growth and recovery.
Nick Consonery, a China analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington, said there was a genuine need for the United States to strengthen its trade policy as it seeks to increase exports and also ensure other economies play by the rules.
"We are definitely entering an environment where they will take trade disputes more aggressively and this would help provide a streamlined structure for that," he said.
LAWMAKERS NOT CONVINCED
On Capitol Hill, several key lawmakers expressed concern about the plan to anchor the specialized USTR - which negotiates free trade deals and monitors for rule-breaking - in a broader bureaucracy where its work may get bogged down.
"Taking USTR, one of the most efficient agencies that is a model of how government can and should work, and making it just another corner of a new bureaucratic behemoth would hurt American exports and hinder American job creation," Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Dave Camp, who chair committees overseeing trade policy, said in a joint statement.
Representative Sander Levin, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees USTR, noted Congress established that agency "because our trade objectives were not adequately negotiated, implemented or emphasized when trade negotiators and enforcers were part of a broader agency."
The lawmakers' comments raised questions about the White House's strategy for selling Obama's plan on Capitol Hill. But even if Congress rejects it, it would still be a win for the president, who has made running against an obstructionist Congress a central theme of his election campaign.
John Murphy from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also stressed it was important to avoid hurting the USTR with a merger. "The business community would oppose its merger with the Commerce Department, whose functions are quite different," he said.
Seeking to illustrate how complex government bureaucracy had become, Obama unveiled a slide at the White House with a bubble diagram that showed a dizzying array of websites, toll-free numbers and customer service centers that were available to small business owners seeking advice on loans and how to export.
"It's a mess," Obama said, after noting his favorite example of the bureaucratic maze.
"As it turns out, the Interior Department is in charge of salmon in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them in saltwater," he said.
A White House official said the goal was to save $3 billion over 10 years from streamlining the trade agencies, which may lead to the loss of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs through attrition.
(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer, Richard Cowan, Stella Dawson, Susan Heavey, David Lawder, Steve Holland, Glenn Somerville and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Ross Colvin and Stacey Joyce)
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