Congressional Oversight Committees Want to be Looped in to White House’s Reorg Efforts

When President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address, called for the administration to undertake a sweeping federal reorganization, including merging and consolidating redundant programs, he characterized it as a need for the government to “think big.”

But it’s clear the administration won’t be thinking big, alone.

Members of Congress have indicated they want to be looped in to the administration’s plans (or lack of them, so far) and Federal Times reported, it’s bringing out uncommon bipartisanship from the oft-gridlocked House and Senate chambers.

In a letter to Jeffrey Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and the man the administration has tasked with leading the reorg, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who chair the House and Senate oversight committees, respectively, wrote the effort is a “shared responsibility,” between the executive and legislative branches.

The letter also requests “a tentative timeline for development and implementation of the reorganization proposal, as well as regular updates during the review.”

It may make political sense for the administration to key Congress in, Federal Times’ reporter Sean Reilly conjectures in a blog post. The final plans will require congressional approval.