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Executive Order 13781: Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch is a presidentialexecutive order issued byPresidentDonald Trump (R) in March 2017 that instructed the director of theU.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and propose a plan to reorganize the federal executive branch and eliminate unnecessary agencies and programs. The order instructed the OMB director to seek input on the proposal from the public and from agency officials, and to consider features such as the redundancy of an agency or program and whether the costs of a government program outweigh its benefits.^[1]

Executive Order 13781: background

"Deconstructing the administrative state"

In 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) campaigned on a platform that included a pledge to rein in what he considered to be burdensome federal regulations that slowed down economic growth—an agenda that his former chief strategistSteve Bannon characterized as the "deconstruction of theadministrative state." After taking the oath of office on January 20, 2017, President Trump instituted a regulatory freeze. Ten days later, on January 30, 2017, Trump issuedE.O. 13771, which called for any new regulatory activity by agencies to amount to a net cost of zero dollars by the end of the fiscal year. The following month, Trump issuedE.O. 13777, which included provisions for implementing and enforcing E.O. 13771.^[2][3]

Developing a plan to reorganize the federal executive branch

Three weeks after issuing E.O. 13777, the Trump administration issued Executive Order 13781, which was dated March 13, 2017, and appeared in the March 16 issue of theFederal Register. The order instructed the director of theOffice of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and propose a plan to reorganize the federal executive branch and eliminate unnecessary agencies and programs. The OMB is a United States executive agency formed in 1970 to, according to its mission statement on its website, "serve the President of the United States in implementing his vision across the Executive Branch." The OMB reports directly to the president and is the largest element of the Executive Office of the President. Among its chief responsibilities are managing the development and execution of the annual federal budget, overseeing federal agencies and executive branch operations, and coordinating and reviewing agency regulations. At the time E.O. 13781 was issued and implemented, former U.S. Rep.Mick Mulvaney served as director of the OMB.^[1][4]

Executive Order 13781: its provisions

E.O. 13781 has three sections. The first section describes the order's purpose, the second section provides details for implementing the order, and the third section gives a disclaimer about the order's effects.^[1]

Purpose

The first section of the order describes its purpose as improving the executive branch by reorganizing federal agencies and programs and eliminating unnecessary ones. To that end, the order instructs the director of theU.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop and propose a comprehensive reorgnization plan:^[1]

Development of a reorganization plan

The second section of the order describes how a reorganization plan should be developed and proposed. The section begins by directing agency heads to develop reorganization plans for their own agencies and submit them to the OMB director within 180 days of the order's issue date. The order also instructs the director to publish a notice in theFederal Register seeking comments and ideas from the public about reorganizing the executive branch:^[1]

Once suggestions from agencies and the public have been submitted to the OMB director, the director is given 180 days to propose a comprehensive reorganization plan to the president, including recommendations for legislation and administrative changes:^[1]

The order instructs the director of OMB to consider the following things "in addition to any other relevant factors" when developing the proposed reorganization plan:^[1]

The order also instructs the OMB director to "consult with the head of each agency and, consistent with applicable law, with persons or entities outside the Federal Government with relevant expertise in organizational structure and management."^[1]

Disclaimer

The final section of the order has a disclaimer noting that "nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect" thestatutory authority of agencies and agency leadership or the functions of the OMB director. The order further notes that it is subject to applicable law and the availability of appropriations, and that it does not create any right or benefit enforceable against the United States government or any component thereof.^[1]

Executive Order 13781: resulting restructuring proposal

On June 21, 2018, theU.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report pursuant to E.O.13781 that proposed increasing the overall efficiency of the executive branch by enacting the broadest changes to the organization of federal agencies since the New Deal. The plan was designed to "serve as a cornerstone for a productive, bipartisan dialogue around making the Federal Government work for the 21st century," according to a White House press release.^[6][7]

The full reorganization plan featured 34 proposals aimed at aligning the core missions and responsibilities ofexecutive agencies. The proposal included the following, among other changes:

• merging theU.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and theU.S. Department of Education (DOE) into a single federal agency;
• restructuring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Postal Service;
• reorganizing several administrative programs under different agencies.

While some of the proposed changes could be implemented through executive action, Congress would need to take legislative action to enact the full plan, according to OMB directorMick Mulvaney.^[7]

Click here for Ballotpedia's full coverage of the Trump administration's reorganization plan forexecutive agencies.

See also

• Presidential Executive Order 13771 (Donald Trump, 2017)
• Presidential Executive Order 13777 (Donald Trump, 2017)
• Mick Mulvaney
• U.S. Office of Management and Budget
• U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

External links

• Executive Order 13781: Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch (2017)
• RegInfo.gov
• Regulations.gov
• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

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United States Terms Adjudication (administrative state) •Administrative judge •Administrative law •Administrative law judge •Administrative state •Arbitrary-or-capricious test •Auer deference •Barrier to entry •Bootleggers and Baptists •Chevron deference (doctrine) •Civil servant •Civil service •Code of Federal Regulations •Codify (administrative state) •Comment period •Compliance costs •Congressional Record •Coordination (administrative state) •Deference (administrative state) •Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) •Enabling statute •Ex parte communication (administrative state) •Executive agency •Federal law •Federal Register •Federalism •Final rule •Formal rulemaking •Formalism (law) •Functionalism (law) •Guidance (administrative state) •Hybrid rulemaking •Incorporation by reference •Independent federal agency •Informal rulemaking •Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) •Major rule •Negotiated rulemaking •Nondelegation doctrine •OIRA prompt letter •Organic statute •Pragmatism (law) •Precautionary principle •Promulgate •Proposed rule •Publication rulemaking •Regulatory budget •Regulatory capture •Regulatory dark matter •Regulatory impact analysis •Regulatory policy officer •Regulatory reform officer •Regulatory review •Rent seeking •Retrospective regulatory review •Risk assessment (administrative state) •Rulemaking •Separation of powers •Significant regulatory action •Skidmore deference •Statutory authority •Substantive law and procedural law •Sue and settle •Sunset provision •Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions •United States Code •United States Statutes at Large Bibliography "Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States •United States Civil Service Commission •U.S. Government Accountability Office •U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs •U.S. Office of Management and Budget