Trump Administration Releases Proposal to Reorganize the Federal Government

The Trump Administration released its comprehensive plan to restructure and reorganize the federal government on June 21, Delivering Government Solutions in the 21^st Century, which includes proposals to make major changes to the federal bureaucracy and social safety net programs. This plan continues efforts by the Administration to restructure and reduce the size of the federal government. Implementing the majority of the reforms proposed would require Congressional action—and are therefore unlikely to be realized—but they provide clear insight into the priorities of the Administration and serve as a blueprint for possible actions over the next few years.

The plan proposes sweeping reorganization and consolidation of federal departments and agencies, including combining the Departments of Labor and Education into a single “Department of Education and the Workforce,” and moving several public assistance programs into the Department of Health and Human Services and renaming it the “Department of Health and Public Welfare.” Generally, with a few notable exceptions, agencies important to the social and behavioral sciences are left largely intact. Of the major changes in the plan, the proposals most likely to affect the social and behavioral sciences (each discussed in detail below) would:

• Merge the Departments of Education and Labor and change federal student aid servicing at the Department of Education.
• Consolidate the administration of graduate fellowships from multiple agencies under the National Science Foundation.
• Move the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the Department of Commerce.
• Establish a public-private government effectiveness research center.
• Set government-wide polices for evaluation.

Read on for COSSA’s full analysis of the government-wide reorganization proposals, keeping in mind that most of the changes would require Congressional action, which is not likely at this time. As for next steps, the report states that the Administration will now “begin a dialogue with Congress to prioritize and refine proposals to best serve the American people.”

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