The President's News Conference

REORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

THE PRESIDENT. I have been negotiating for some days with various officers of the Government in the matter of reorganization of the executive departments.

You will recollect that on my recommendation the Congress at its last session gave to the President authority to reorganize the executive branches, consolidate and eliminate bureaus and commissions, in order to bring about an enlarged program of economies. Under the provisions of the law the President is to issue Executive orders covering these changes. Those orders are to lie before the Congress for 60 days of actual session, and if they are not disapproved they become then effective.

Furthermore, the original law creating the Budget Bureau provides that that Bureau, on the direction of the President, shall make determinations of this character. So that I have directed the Director of the Budget to set up the necessary staff to make necessary detailed investigations and to prepare the Executive orders relating to every change in the Government that will make present economy and greater efficiency.

These orders covering the entire structure of the Federal Government will be presented to Congress immediately it convenes in December. So that at that moment we will have for the first time in some 30 years of agitation a complete plan of effective reorganization of the whole structure of the Federal Government.

It may interest you to look up the terms of the economy bill stating the basis of reorganization, and of course many of the lines of reorganization are well known, having been advocated for years.

Otherwise than that I have nothing this morning.