I agreeto Idea Evaluate government agencies for potential consolidation
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Evaluate government agencies for potential consolidation

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There are many agency programs, areas of work, programs, etc., that are redundant or nearly identical to other agencies. Consider a 20-year plan of reduction and consolidation while balancing that with the need to get something done. There may be instances where combining two small agencies would be less efficient. But this will take some study.

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Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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Comments (11)

  1. Community Member

    This is an area ripe for correction and cost savings! Why does USDA have a rural housing office when HUD has the majority of housing issues? Should HUD's FHEO (Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity) office be in the Justice Department since they investigate and enforce the law?

    2 years ago
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  2. Community Member

    GAO just started an annual report and are accepting feedback. Check their website for report: "GAO-11-318SP". Personally, I'm a bit cynical because Government critic and author Martin Gross mentioned the CRS had done this report annually for decades until the lead retired.

    2 years ago
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  3. Community Member

    I have the perfect place to start - internal information. Check out my idea: http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Internal-Information-Review/117444-13060

    2 years ago
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  4. Community Member

    There is a tremendous amount of cost for consolidating any agency, including but not limited to changing uniforms, signage, policies, etc. That is why a gradual merge is needed. There is a huge dose of redundancy among many agencies. Why, for example, is the Forest Service, BLM, Interior and NPS four separate agencies? Then again, the larger you get sometimes the less effective you are.

    2 years ago
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  5. Community Member

    Great idea, needed and see like in regards to leased firing ranges,

    http://governmentreform.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Create-Regional-Firing-Ranges-for-Federal-LEOs-/117660-13060

    .

    2 years ago
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  6. Community Member

    The USGS NWQL is the poster child for a redundant government agency.

    This agency should be assimilated/absorbed into the EPA which is responsible for water quality.The NWQL test water using mostly EPA methods or modified EPA methods. The necessary essential personal could be transferred to the EPA or the work could go out to private contact laboratories or some combination thereof. I’ve worked in several laboratories and this is the only laboratory I’ve seen where the chemist don’t actually prepare their samples for analysis. An essential part of data analysis and interpretation is having knowledge of what anomalies may have occurred during sample preparation.

    In addition the organization is over staffed in many areas and also top heavy in the management area managers, assistant manager, and many folks coming in just padding their retirement.

    2 years ago
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  7. Community Member

    The federal bureaucracy is way, way, way over-managed. Cut out the middle parts of those organizational charts and have the employees either move up, down or out. Simple, sweet directive from the president would do this.

    2 years ago
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  8. Community Member

    Eliminate 3 to 5 Executive Departments thru Mergers

    Defense recently eliminated positions for 200 SES's and 80 Generals/Admirals as a means of reducing overhead/bureaucracy both in the 280 positions plus their attendant staffs. Let's do that for all Department headquarters by merging a few Dept HQ's and at least eliminate their respective redundant HQ staff functions (Secretary, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretaries, comptroller, protocol, legislative affairs, etc).

    There are 15 Executive Departments. Some perform functions more appropriately left to the States and some are justifiable federal turf, just lower priority than others as the budget tightens. We should prioritize all 15 and take the bottom 3 - 5, cut them in half, and merge them into another Exec Dept. Here are some examples:

    1. Dept of Treasury absorbs Dept of Commerce

    2. Dept of Labor absorbs Dept of Education

    3. Dept of HHS absorbs Dept of HUD

    4. Dept of Interior absorbs Dept of Agriculture

    The absolutely necessary high priority federal functions would migrate to the new department led by an appropriate official, for example the Labor Dept could have an Asst Sec for Education.

    2 years ago
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  9. Community Member

    I agree with the consolidation, and it's very easy to see which agencies could absorb others. However, I urge caution because consolidation is not tha easy, bureacracy could triple if not quadruple in size and the abilty to get the real work accomplshed could be reduced even more. The Department of Agriculture would not be a good fit within the Department of Interior. However, the Department of Agriculture would be a good fit for breaking apart and being absorbed in other areas. Some of their food programs could be absorbed into the CDC. Others should go to Interior. I just can't see taking an entire agency and lumping it in with another without reevaluating each individual agency and comparing them to others. That could even result in the collapse of several agencies and the formation of three new structures that would better serve this country.

    2 years ago
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  10. Community Member

    It's not that sort of consolidation that is going to do the trick. It's going to require intra-agancy consolidation. Don't even worry about the top or the bottom. Cut all the unneccessary crap in the middle. All agencies have Organizational Charts. Start with a medium sized agency like NOAA & Have fun and follow just one branch otherwise you'll go crazy! A child could trim that agency down 50% and increase it's effectivity in doing so. It's the middle that needs the trimming. The government is way, way over-managed and those useless ones are the ones in the middle. Postmater Frank cut 55,000 middle management in the 1970s and made the USPS competative overnight.

    2 years ago
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  11. Community Member

    Move the Dept. of Energy Environmental Mgmt Program to the Corps of Engrs. Clean up work at DOE sites across the country might be more efficient if performed by the Corps of Engineers. In many cases COE employees are already working side by side with DOE employees overseeing the work. This would allow the Dept. of Energy to focus on their true "Energy" mission and the federal government to fulfill the commitment to clean up hazardous waste generated during the Manhattan Project.

    2 years ago
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