WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is rolling out a plan to reorganize the federal government. Much of the overhaul will need approval from Congress. Here’s a look at some of the potential changes:
— EDUCATION-LABOR MERGER: The plan calls for the merger of the Education Department and Labor Department into a single Cabinet agency, which would be called the Department of Education and the Workforce (DEW). The administration said merging the two agencies would allow the government to address the education and skills needs of American students and workers in a coordinated way and avoid duplication.
— FOOD STAMPS: Nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) would be consolidated under the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the plan, HHS would be renamed the Department of Health and Public Welfare. The White House said it would improve the way the programs are run at the state and local levels and reduce duplication.
— FOOD SAFETY: Under the changes, federal food safety functions would be consolidated into a single agency called the Federal Food Safety Agency. The administration said the federal oversight of food safety is fragmented among several agencies, and said the changes would reduce duplication of inspection at some food processing facilities and improve outreach to consumers and the food industry.
— FEDERAL BACKGROUND CHECKS: The National Background Investigations Bureau would be shifted from the Office of Personnel Management to the Defense Department to improve efficiency and provide a secure operation.
— POSTAL SERVICE: The U.S. Postal Service would be restructured and returned “to a sustainable business model,” the administration said. Trump has claimed that the postal system has been scammed out of billions of dollars by online retailers such as Amazon.com.
— GOVERNMENT DATA: The proposal would reorganize the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics under the Commerce Department.
— TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY: It would sell the transmission assets owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Energy Department’s Power Marketing Administrations.
— RURAL HOUSING: The Agriculture Department’s rural housing loan guarantee and rental assistance programs would shift to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
— HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: The proposal seeks to optimize humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to eliminate the duplication of efforts and fragmentation of decision-making. A reorganization proposal will be submitted by State and USAID as part of next year’s budget process.
— FINANCE TOOLS: It would consolidate the government’s development finance tools, such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Development Credit Authority of USAID, into a new Development Finance Institution.
— ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE: Economic assistance resources would be consolidated under a new Bureau of Economic Growth at the Commerce Department.
— ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: The plan would shift the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works from the Defense Department to the Transportation and Interior departments to consolidate and align the Corps’ missions with those agencies. It would move the Corps Civil Works commercial navigation to Transportation and the remaining Civil Works missions, such as flood and storm damage reduction, to Interior.
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Source: The Office of Management and Budget.
–The Associated Press
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