It will take more than a year to write, but President Trump ordered a top-to-bottom reorganization of the federal government, to streamline its operation and discard unneeded programs. The project, under the control of the White House budget office, could provide an opening for calls to create a single food-safety agency, to centralize federal oversight of genetically engineered plants and animals, or to combine public nutrition programs that sprawl across several agencies.
At present, FDA and USDA are the lead agencies on food safety; the FDA, EPA and USDA share responsibility for approval of GE crops; and several agencies operate nutrition programs although USDA has the largest, food stamps and school meals.
“Today there is duplication and redundancy everywhere. Billions and billions of dollars are being wasted,” said Trump, who has proposed a 10-percent cut in discretionary spending in order to pay for a $54-billion increase in military spending. The White House said the president would work with Congress to put the new superstructure into place. In a statement, the White House pointed to studies that identified overlapping and duplicative programs but that have not been implemented.
Under Trump’s executive order, federal agencies will have six months to report on how they could reorganize themselves to be more efficient and effective. Public comments would be solicited on the proposals and then the White House budget office would spend six months writing a government-wide plan. “The proposed plan shall include, as appropriate, recommendations to eliminate unnecessary agencies, components of agencies, and agency programs, and to merge functions. The proposed plan shall include recommendations for any legislation or administrative measures necessary to achieve the proposed reorganization,” said the executive order.
Some activities may be shifted to state and local governments or left to the private sector, said the White House.
“But the president has little power to reorganize executive agencies on his own, so Trump’s reorganization plan will need support from Congress to be implemented,” said USA Today, which quoted scholars who noted other presidents have tried unsuccessfully to weed out programs or streamline agencies.