The White House said the consolidation would save $3 billion over 10 years and result in the elimination of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, though he said those reductions would occur through attrition rather than layoffs.
“From the moment I got here, I saw up close what many of you know to be true: The government we have is not the government we need,’’ Obama told an audience of small-business owners.
It is not clear whether Congress, which has blocked the bulk of Obama’s legislative agenda, will go along with the initiative. White House officials said no president since Ronald Reagan has had the so-called consolidation authority Obama is seeking.
Republicans were immediately skeptical. They suggested that the White House was more interested in honing its reelection message than in reducing the size of government.
“Yesterday, President Obama asked for a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt limit, today he is proposing to shrink the federal government,’’ said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas. “Unfortunately, President Obama does not have much of a record to back up his newfound, election-year enthusiasm for limited government.’’
A spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner said that Republicans would take a look at the plan.
“We hope the president isn’t simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach,’’ said the spokesman, Brendan Buck. “However, eliminating duplicative programs and making the federal government more simple, streamlined, and business-friendly is always an idea worth exploring.’’
By putting the onus for streamlining government on Congress, however, Obama was seizing a core issue of Republican presidential candidates like Mitt Romney - the inexorable growth of the federal government - and trying to turn it to his own political advantage.
