WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama asked Congress yesterday for broad powers to overhaul the U.S. government and untangle what he called an “outdated bureaucratic maze” that makes it hard for U.S. businesses to sell their goods abroad.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.
