Obama proposes to streamline US government

Washington - President Barack Obama proposed Friday to streamline the government by eliminating duplication, waste and inefficiencies.

The president laid out his proposal at the White House to consolidate six business and trade-related federal agencies into one agency to promote competitiveness, exports and business, reported Xinhua.

The change would involve Department of Commerce's core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the US Trade and Development Agency.

"We live in a 21st century economy, but we've still got a government organized for the 20th century," said Obama, adding that the government "is growing more complicated and sometimes more confusing".

Meanwhile, Obama called on Congress to reinstate presidential authority to reorganize and consolidate the federal government.

The US Congress first granted such authority to presidents in the midst of the Great Depression, so that they could swiftly reorganize the executive branch to respond to the changing needs of the American people and the immediate challenges of the Depression.

But in 1984, while Ronald Reagan was president, Congress stopped granting that authority.

In his last State of the Union Address, Obama noted the federal government was a maze of federal agencies with overlapping services and missions, making it difficult for businesses to find the assistance they needed to export, expand, and hire.