President Obama arrvies to deliver remarks on government reform at the White House, January 13, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON |
Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:53pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for
authority to close the Commerce Department and create a new export
agency, an overhaul that could save $3 billion and help inoculate him
against Republican election-year charges that he is a big-government
liberal.
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 |
Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:44pm EST
(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 |
Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:40pm EST
(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)
