Please disable your Ad Blocker to better interact with this website.

GovernmentMilitaryNational SecurityOpinionPolitics

It’s Painful, But Somebody’s Gotta Do It: Restructuring the Executive Branch

Previously I have discussed selling off various government entities (e.g. Postal Service, AMTRAK, FDIC) as well as restructuring the Justice Department. Now I will discuss restructuring the remainder of the Executive Branch.

Restructuring consists not only dealing with the hundred plus Independent Agencies, Board, Commissions, Quasi-Official Agencies, etc. but also the Executive Departments (I have advocated merging Homeland Security with the Justice Department). In fact, many of these Independent Agencies, Board, Commissions, etc. could be placed under Executive Departments. In addition, certain agencies within a certain Executive Department could be transferred to another Executive Department.

Let’s start with the Department of Agriculture. It could transfer the Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wildlife Damage Management, and Wildlife Services to the Department of the Interior. In addition, it could transfer the Rural Development Business and Cooperative Programs to the Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, it could obtain the Farm Credit Administration (an Independent Agency).

Next, there is the Department of Commerce. It can transfer the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to the Department of the Interior. It can also acquire the following Independent Agencies, Boards, Commissions, etc.: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Credit Union Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Small Business Administration, and the United States International Trade Commission.

I have previously advocated putting the Coast Guard under the Department of Defense, but I also feel the Defense Department should also annex the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Board and the Selective Service System.

Then there is the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to obtaining FEMA, it can also obtain the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (a.k.a. Access Board), Chemical Safety Board, Joint Science Fire Program, and the National Council on Disability.

Next, there is the Department of Housing and Urban Development. First of all, I think it should be renamed the Department of Housing and Development. Second, I think it should obtain the Census Bureau from the Department of Commerce, as well as obtaining the following from the Department of Agriculture: Rural Development, Rural Housing Service, and the Rural Utilities Service. Third, it could obtain the following Independent Agencies: Appalachian Regional Commission, Election Assistance Commission, Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Federal Housing Finance Board.

The Department of Labor would obtain the following Independent Agencies: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, National Labor Relations Board, National Mediation Board, Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Railroad Retirement Board.

Meanwhile, the State Department can acquire the following Independent Agencies: Commission on International Religious Freedom, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (a.k.a. Helsinki Commission), Panama Canal Commission, and the United States Institute for Peace. It can also acquire the World Leadership Center from the Legislative Branch.

The Department of the Interior should annex the following Independent Agencies: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, American Battle Monuments Commission, Arctic Research Commission, Delaware River Basin Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Marine Mammal Commission, Mississippi River Commission, National Archives and Records Administration, National Park Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

The Department of Transportation could obtain the Federal Maritime Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board, while the Treasury Department can acquire the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and Taxpayer Advocacy Council. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service can be eliminated.

As for the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, they can be eliminated.

Of course, many of these Independent Agencies, Boards, etc. should be privatized or eliminated instead of being placed under Executive Departments.

Image: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/9445

Andrew Linn

Andrew Linn is a member of the Owensboro Tea Party and a former Field Representative for the Media Research Center. An ex-Democrat, he became a Republican one week after the 2008 Presidential Election. He has an M.A. in history from the University of Louisville, where he became a member of the Phi Alpha Theta historical honors society. He has also contributed to examiner.com and Right Impulse Media.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *