Seyfarth Synopsis:President Trump's executive order directs all federal agencies to point out where they can be trimmed down to meet his proposed budget.
On Monday, March 13, President Trump signed Executive Order
13781 (EO) giving the head of each agency 180 days to submit a plan
to reorganize their agency with the goal of improving
"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability." The
reports along with public suggestions will be aggregated by the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director) who will
propose a final plan of reorganization to the president later this
year.
In the EO, the president requested recommendations to
eliminate unnecessary agencies, components of agencies, and agency
programs as well as any recommendations to merge functions. The
Director will look to what agency functions should be left to the
states or public sector, what redundancies can be eliminated, and
make a cost-benefit analysis of agency functions.
The EO was published on March 16, the same day as the
president's budget proposal for 2018. Through the budget, the
heads of the agencies have an apparent goal to meet in order to
comply with the president's expectations. The president's
budget proposes $54 billion in cuts to the federal government from
last year, including a 31.4% reduction for the EPA, 28.7% reduction
for the Department of State, and 16.2% reduction for the Department
of Health and Human Services. The budget also proposed the
elimination of 19 federal programs including the Legal Services
Corporation (LSC), The National Endowment for Humanities, and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting to name a few.
While the budget proposes $54 billion in cuts to the federal
agencies and programs, an identical number has been spoken of in
connection with an increase to the budget of the Department of
Defense.
The EO requires the Director to allow for a period of public
suggestion. Some have already taken the initiative to directly
respond to the Director. For example, in response to the threat of
elimination to the LSC, which assists low-income Americans in need
of civil legal aid, leaders of 157 law firms signed a letter sent
to the Director in support of the LSC.
While the president has made his intentions known, ultimately
it is up to the Appropriations Committee to determine what, if any,
agencies will be defunded. Seyfarth Shaw LLP will continue to
monitor the implementation of the Executive Order and any
subsequent legal challenges.
Seyfarth is a member of a Steering Committee of law firm
leaders and pro bono counsel from a group of Big Law firms which
are rallying support for LSC. Recently, the Steering Committee sent
a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget
that was signed by leaders of 157 law firms with offices in all 50
states. The letter makes a variety of points, such as the clear
return on investment derived from support for legal aid, and that
eliminating the Legal Services Corporation will not only imperil
the ability of civil legal aid organizations to serve Americans in
need, it will also vastly diminish the private bar's capacity
to help these individuals.
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