[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section transferred the Bureau of the Budget and its functions and personnel from the Treasury Department to the Executive Office of the President, and provided that the functions of the Bureau be administered by the Director under the direction and supervision of the President. See 31 U.S.C. 501 et seq.]

[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section transferred the Central Statistical Board and its functions and personnel to the Bureau of the Budget, and provided that the Chairman of the Board perform such administrative duties as the Director of the Bureau shall prescribe.]

[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section abolished the Board and transferred its functions to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.]

(a) The functions of the National Resources Committee, established by Executive Order No. 7065 of June 7, 1935, and its personnel (except the members of the Committee) and all of the functions of the Federal Employment Stabilization Office in the Department of Commerce and its personnel are hereby transferred to the Executive Office of the President. The functions transferred by this section are hereby consolidated, and they shall be administered under the direction and supervision of the President by the National Resources Planning Board (hereafter referred to as the Board), which shall be composed of five members to be appointed by the President. The President shall designate one of the members of the Board as Chairman and another as Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman shall act as Chairman in the absence of the Chairman or in the event of a vacancy in that office. The members of the Board shall be compensated at the rate of $50 per day for time spent in attending and traveling to and from meetings, or in otherwise exercising the functions and duties of the Board, plus the actual cost of transportation: Provided, That in no case shall a member be entitled to receive compensation for more than thirty days’ service in two consecutive months. [Functions of Board were authorized to be carried out until June 30, 1940, and provisions concerning composition of Board were contained in Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939.]

(b) The Board shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, and a majority of its members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but the Board may function notwithstanding vacancies.

(c) The Board may appoint necessary officers and employees and may delegate to such officers authority to perform such duties and make such expenditures as may be necessary. [Board abolished August 31, 1943, by act June 26, 1943, ch. 145, title I, § 1, 57 Stat. 170, and records and files were transferred to the National Archives.]

The National Resources Committee is hereby abolished, and its outstanding affairs shall be wound up by the National Resources Planning Board.

The Federal Employment Stabilization Office is hereby abolished, and the Secretary of Commerce shall promptly wind up its affairs.

All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies transferred, or the functions of which are transferred, by this part are hereby transferred to the Executive Office of the President for use in the administration of the agencies and functions transferred by this part.

So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the use of any agency in the exercise of any functions transferred by this part, or for the use of the head of any department or agency in the exercise of any functions so transferred, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, shall be transferred to the Executive Office of the President for use in connection with the exercise of functions transferred by this part. In determining the amount to be transferred the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer: Provided, That the use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

Any personnel transferred by this part found to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the efficient administration of the functions transferred by this part shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government service, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

(a) The United States Employment Service in the Department of Labor and its functions and personnel are transferred from the Department of Labor; the Office of Education in the Department of the Interior and its functions and personnel (including the Commissioner of Education) are transferred from the Department of the Interior; the Public Health Service in the Department of the Treasury and its functions and personnel (including the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service) are transferred from the Department of the Treasury; the National Youth Administration within the Works Progress Administration and its functions and personnel (including its Administrator) are transferred from the Works Progress Administration; and these agencies and their functions, together with the Social Security Board and its functions, and the Civilian Conservation Corps and its functions, are hereby consolidated under one agency to be known as the Federal Security Agency, with a Federal Security Administrator at the head thereof. The Federal Security Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive a salary at the rate of $12,000 per annum. He shall have general direction and supervision over the administration of the several agencies consolidated into the Federal Security Agency by this section and shall be responsible for the coordination of their functions and activities.

(b) The Federal Security Administrator shall appoint an Assistant Federal Security Administrator, who shall receive a salary at the rate of $9,000 per annum, and he may also appoint such other personnel and make such expenditures as may be necessary.

(c) The Assistant Administrator shall act as Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator or in the event of a vacancy in that office and shall perform such other duties as the Administrator shall direct.

(d) The several agencies and functions consolidated by this section into the Federal Security Agency shall carry with them their personnel. [Federal Security Agency abolished and functions transferred to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Health and Human Services) by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1953.]

The Social Security Board and its functions shall be administered as a part of the Federal Security Agency under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator. The Chairman of the Social Security Board shall perform such administrative duties as the Federal Security Administrator shall direct.

(a) The functions of the United States Employment Service shall be consolidated with the unemployment compensation functions of the Social Security Board and shall be administered in the Social Security Board in connection with such unemployment compensation functions under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator.

(b) The office of the Director of the United States Employment Service is hereby abolished, and all of the functions of such office are transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Social Security Board.

(c) All functions of the Secretary of Labor relating to the administration of the United States Employment Service are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Security Administrator.

(a) The Office of Education and its functions shall be administered by the Commissioner of Education under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator.

(b) All functions of the Secretary of the Interior relating to the administration of the Office of Education are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Security Administrator.

(a) The Public Health Service and its functions shall be administered by the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator.

(b) All the functions of the Secretary of the Treasury relating to the administration of the Public Health Service, except those functions relating to the acceptance and investment of gifts as authorized by sections 23 (b) and 137 (e),^[1] title 42, U.S. Code [see 42 U.S.C. 219, 286d], are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Security Administrator.

The National Youth Administration and its functions shall be administered by the National Youth Administrator under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator. [National Youth Administration was extended until June 30, 1940, by Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939, § 2(d) and until June 30, 1941, by Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act, 1941, title II], [National Youth Administration was transferred to War Manpower Commission by Ex. Ord. No. 9247.]

[Liquidation of the National Youth Administration was provided for by acts July 12, 1943, ch. 221, title VII, 57 Stat. 518; June 28, 1944, ch. 302, title II, 58 Stat. 564, and disposal of its property was covered by acts July 12, 1943, ch. 229, title I, 57 Stat. 540; Dec. 23, 1943, ch. 380, title I, 57 Stat. 615.]

The Civilian Conservation Corps and its functions shall be administered by the Director of the Civilian Conservation Corps under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator.

All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies which, with their functions, are consolidated by section 201 into the Federal Security Agency are hereby transferred to the jurisdiction and control of the Federal Security Agency for use in the administration of the agencies and functions consolidated by that section.

So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) available for the use of any agency in the exercise of any functions transferred by this part, or for the use of the head of any department or agency in the exercise of any functions so transferred, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, shall be transferred for use in connection with the exercise of the functions transferred by this part. In determining the amount to be transferred the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer: Provided, That the use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall allocate to the Federal Security Agency, from appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the administrative expenses of the agencies and functions consolidated by this part, such sums, and in such proportions, as he may find necessary for the administrative expenses of the Federal Security Agency.

Any personnel transferred by this part found to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the efficient administration of the functions transferred by this part shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government service, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

(a) The Bureau of Public Roads in the Department of Agriculture and its functions and personnel (including the Chief thereof) are transferred from the Department of Agriculture; the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division in the Treasury Department and its functions and personnel are transferred from the Treasury Department; the Branch of Buildings Management of the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior and its functions and personnel (except those relating to monuments and memorials), and the functions of the National Park Service in the District of Columbia in connection with the general assignment of space, the selection of sites for public buildings, and the determination of the priority in which the construction or enlargement of public buildings shall be undertaken, and the personnel engaged exclusively in the administration of such functions, and the United States Housing Authority in the Department of the Interior and its functions and personnel (including the Administrator) are transferred from the Department of the Interior; and all of these agencies and functions, together with the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works and its functions, and all of the Works Progress Administration and its functions (except the National Youth Administration and its functions) are hereby consolidated into one agency to be known as the Federal Works Agency, with a Federal Works Administrator at the head thereof. The Federal Works Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive a salary at the rate of $12,000 per annum. He shall have general direction and supervision over the administration of the several agencies consolidated into the Federal Works Agency by this section and shall be responsible for the coordination of their functions. [Federal Works Agency abolished and functions transferred to General Services Administration by act June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title I, § 103, 63 Stat. 380.]

(b) The Federal Works Administrator shall appoint an Assistant Federal Works Administrator, who shall receive a salary at the rate of $9,000 per annum, and he may also appoint such other personnel and make such expenditures as may be necessary.

(c) The Assistant Administrator shall act as Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator, or in the event of a vacancy in that office, and shall perform such other duties as the Administrator shall direct.

(d) The several agencies and functions consolidated by this section in the Federal Works Agency shall carry with them their personnel.

(a) The Bureau of Public Roads and its functions shall be administered as the Public Roads Administration at the head of which shall be the Chief of the Bureau of Public Roads whose title shall be changed to Commissioner of Public Roads. Hereafter the Commissioner of Public Roads shall be appointed by the Federal Works Administrator.

(b) All functions of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to the administration of the Bureau of Public Roads are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Works Administrator.

(a) The Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division and its functions the Branch of Buildings Management of the National Park Service and its functions (except those relating to monuments and memorials) and the functions of the National Park Service in the District of Columbia in connection with the general assignment of space, the selection of sites for public buildings, and the determination of the priority in which the construction or enlargement of public buildings shall be undertaken, are hereby consolidated and shall be administered as the Public Buildings Administration, with a Commissioner of Public Buildings at the head thereof. The Commissioner of Public Buildings shall be appointed by the Federal Works Administrator and shall receive a salary at the rate of $9,000 per annum. The Commissioner of Public Buildings shall act under the direction and supervision of the Federal Works Administrator.

(b) All functions of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of Procurement relating to the Administration of the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division and to the selection of location and sites for public buildings, and all functions of the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service relating to the administration of the functions of the Branch of Buildings Management and the functions of the National Park Service in the District of Columbia in connection with the general assignment of space, the selection of sites for public buildings, and the determination of the priority in which the construction or enlargement of public buildings shall be undertaken, are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Works Administrator.

(a) The United States Housing Authority and its functions shall be administered by the United States Housing Administrator under the direction and supervision of the Federal Works Administrator.

(b) All functions of the Secretary of the Interior relating to the administration of the United States Housing Authority are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Federal Works Administrator. [United States Housing Authority consolidated with other agencies into National Housing Authority during World War II, see Ex. Ord. No. 9070.] [Change of name of United States Housing Authority to Public Housing Administration and transfer to Housing and Home Finance Agency, see 1947 Reorg. Plan No. 3.] [Housing and Home Finance Agency lapsed and functions were transferred to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, see section 9(c) of Pub. L. 89–174, Sept. 9, 1965, 79 Stat. 670, set out as a note under 42 U.S.C. 3531.]

The Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works and its functions shall be administered as the Public Works Administration with a Commissioner of Public Works at the head thereof. The Commissioner of Public Works shall be appointed by the Federal Works Administrator and shall receive a salary at the rate of $10,000 per annum. The Commissioner of Public Works shall act under the direction and supervision of the Federal Works Administrator.

[Appropriations for liquidation of the Public Works Administration were authorized by the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act of 1944, act June 28, 1944, ch. 304, title I, 58 Stat. 602, and First Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1945, act Apr. 25, 1945, ch. 95, title I, § 1, 59 Stat. 80.]

The Works Progress Administration and its functions (except the National Youth Administration and its functions) shall be administered as the Work Projects Administration, with a Commissioner of Work Projects at the head thereof. The Commissioner shall be appointed by the Federal Works Administrator and shall receive a salary at the rate of $10,000 per annum. The Commissioner shall act under the direction and supervision of the Federal Works Administrator. (Functions were authorized to be carried out until June 30, 1941, and provisions concerning appointment of Commissioner were contained in Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939, § 1(f and g) and Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1941, § 1(i and j), set out in note under chapter 16 of Title 15, Commerce and trade.) [Functions were authorized to be carried out until June 30, 1941, and provisions concerning appointment of Commissioner were contained in Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939, § 1(f and g) and Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1941, § 1(i and j).] [Functions, records, property, personnel and administration of the Sample Surveys Section of Work Projects Administration transferred to Bureau of Census, Dept. of Commerce, see Ex. Ord. No. 9232.]

[Liquidation of the Works Projects Administration was ordered by President’s letter of December 4, 1942, and appropriations for the liquidation were authorized by act July 12, 1943, ch. 229, title I, 57 Stat. 540.]

All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies which, with their functions, are consolidated by section 301 into the Federal Works Agency are hereby transferred to the jurisdiction and control of the Federal Works Agency for use in the administration of the agencies and functions consolidated by that section.

(a) So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the use of any agency (except the United States Housing Authority) in the exercise of any functions transferred by this part, or for the use of the head of any department or agency in the exercise of any functions so transferred, and so much of such balances available to the United States Housing Authority for administrative expenses, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, shall be transferred for use in connection with the exercise of the functions transferred by this Part. In determining the amount to be transferred the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer: Provided, That the use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

(b) All unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the use of the United States Housing Authority, other than those transferred by subsection (a) of this section, are hereby transferred with the United States Housing Authority and shall remain available to it for the exercise of its functions.

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall allocate to the Federal Works Agency, from appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the administrative expenses of the agencies and functions consolidated by section 301, such sums, and in such proportions, as he may find necessary for the administrative expenses of the Federal Works Agency.

Any of the personnel transferred by this part found to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the efficient administration of the functions transferred by this part shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government service, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

The Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation, and the Commodity Credit Corporation, and their functions and activities, together with their respective personnel, records, and property (including office equipment), are hereby transferred to the Department of Agriculture and shall be administered in such Department under the general direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall be responsible for the coordination of their functions and activities.

So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the administrative expenses of any agency transferred by this section, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, shall be transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture for such use; and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall allocate to the Secretary of Agriculture from such funds, such sums, and in such proportions, as he may find necessary for the administrative expenses of the Secretary of Agriculture in connection with the agencies and functions transferred by this section. In determining the amount to be transferred, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer. The use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this subsection shall be subject to the provision of section 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

All unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds, other than those mentioned in subsection (b) of this section, available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for any agency transferred by subsection (a) of this section shall be transferred with such agency and shall remain available to it for the exercise of its functions. [Electric Home and Farm Authority was terminated as a federal agency by Ex. Ord. No. 9256, Oct. 13, 1942.]

Any of the personnel transferred by this section to the Department of Agriculture which the Secretary of Agriculture shall find to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the administration of the functions transferred by this section shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

There shall be at the seat of the Government a Federal Loan Agency, with a Federal Loan Administrator at the head thereof. The Federal Loan Administrator shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive a salary at the rate of $12,000 per annum.

The Federal Loan Administrator shall appoint an Assistant Federal Loan Administrator, who shall receive a salary at the rate of $9,000 per annum. The Assistant Administrator shall act as Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator, or in the event of a vacancy in that office, and shall perform such other duties as the Administrator shall direct.

The Administrator shall supervise the administration, and shall be responsible for the coordination of the functions and activities, of the following agencies: Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Electric Home and Farm Authority, R.F.C. Mortgage Company, Disaster Loan Corporation, Federal National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, Federal Housing Administration, and Export-Import Bank of Washington. The Administrator may appoint such officers and employees and make such expenditures as may be necessary. [For subsequent history, see Codification note set out under 15 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.]

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall allocate to the Federal Loan Agency, from appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including those available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940) for the administrative expenses of the agencies named in this section, such sums, and in such proportion, as he may find necessary for the administrative expenses of the Federal Loan Agency.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1939 (Public, No. 19, 76th Cong., 1st sess.), approved April 3, 1939, I herewith transmit Reorganization Plan No. I, which, after investigation, I have prepared in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the act; and I declare that with respect to each transfer, consolidation, or abolition made in Reorganization Plan No. I, I have found that such transfer, consolidation, or abolition is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes of section 1(a) of the act.

In these days of ruthless attempts to destroy democratic government, it is boldly asserted that democracies must always be weak in order to be democratic at all; and that, therefore, it will be easy to crush all free states out of existence.

Confident in our Republic’s 150 years of successful resistance to all subversive attempts upon it, whether from without or within, nevertheless we must be constantly alert to the importance of keeping the tools of American democracy up to date. It is our responsibility to make sure that the people’s government is in condition to carry out the people’s will, promptly, effectively, without waste or lost motion.

In 1883 under President Arthur we strengthened the machinery of democracy by the Civil Service law; beginning in 1905 President Roosevelt initiated important inquiries into Federal administration; in 1911 President Taft named the Economy and Efficiency Commission which made very important recommendations; in 1921 under Presidents Wilson and Harding we tightened up our budgetary procedure. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover in succession strongly recommended the rearrangement of Federal administrative activities. In 1937 I proposed, on the basis of an inquiry authorized and appropriated for by the Congress, the strengthening of the administrative management of the executive establishment.

None of all this long series of suggestions, running over more than a quarter of a century, was in any sense personal or partisan in design.

These measures have all had only one supreme purpose—to make democracy work—to strengthen the arms of democracy in peace or war and to ensure the solid blessings of free government to our people in increasing measure.

We are not free if our administration is weak. But we are free if we know, and others know, that we are strong; that we can be tough as well as tender hearted; and that what the American people decide to do can and will be done, capably and effectively, with the best national equipment that modern organizing ability can supply in a country where management and organization is so well understood in private affairs.

My whole purpose in submitting this plan is to improve the administrative management of the Republic, and I feel confident that our Nation is united in this central purpose, regardless of differences upon details.

This plan is concerned with the practical necessity of reducing the number of agencies which report directly to the President and also of giving the President assistance in dealing with the entire executive branch by modern means of administrative management.

Forty years ago in 1899 President McKinley could deal with the whole machinery of the executive branch through his 8 cabinet secretaries and the heads of 2 commissions; and there was but 1 commission of the so-called quasi-judicial type in existence. He could keep in touch with all the work through 8 or 10 persons.

Now, 40 years later, not only do some 30 major agencies (to say nothing of the minor ones) report directly to the President, but there are several quasi-judicial bodies which have enough administrative work to require them also to see him on important executive matters.

It has become physically impossible for one man to see so many persons, to receive reports directly from them, and to attempt to advise them on their own problems which they submit. In addition the President today has the task of trying to keep their programs in step with each other or in line with the national policy laid down by the Congress. And he must seek to prevent unnecessary duplication of effort.

The administrative assistants provided for the President in the Reorganization Act cannot perform these functions of over-all management and direction. Their task will be to help me get information, and condense and summarize it—they are not to become in any sense Assistant Presidents nor are they to have any authority over anybody in any department or agency.

The only way in which the President can be relieved of the physically impossible task of directly dealing with 30 or 40 major agencies is by reorganization—by the regrouping of agencies according to their major purposes under responsible heads who will report to the President, just as is contemplated by the Reorganization Act of 1939.

This act says that the President shall investigate the organization of all agencies of the Government and determine what changes are necessary to accomplish any one or more of five definite purposes:

(1) To reduce expenditures;

(2) To increase efficiency;

(3) To consolidate agencies according to major purposes;

(4) To reduce the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions and by abolishing such as may not be necessary;

(5) To eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.

It being obviously impracticable to complete this task at one time, but having due regard to the declaration of Congress that it should be accomplished immediately and speedily, I have decided to undertake it promptly in several steps.

The first step is to improve over-all management, that is, to do those things which will accomplish the purposes set out in the law, and which, at the same time, will reduce the difficulties of the President in dealing with the multifarious agencies of the executive branch and assist him in distributing his responsibilities as the chief administrator of the Government by providing him with the necessary organization and machinery for better administrative management.

The second step is to improve the allocation of departmental activities, that is, to do those things which will accomplish the purposes set out in the law and at the same time help that part of the work of the executive branch which is carried on through executive departments and agencies. In all this the responsibility to the people is through the President.

The third step is to improve intradepartmental management, that is, to do those things which will enable the heads of departments and agencies the better to carry out their own duties and distribute their own work among their several assistants and subordinates.

Each of these three steps may require from time to time the submission of one or more plans involving one or more reorganizations, but it is my purpose to fulfill the duty imposed upon me by the Congress as expeditiously as practicable and to the fullest extent possible in view of the exceptions and exemptions set out in the act.

The plan I now transmit is divided into four parts or sections which I shall describe briefly as follows:

In my message to the Congress of January 12, 1937, in discussing the problem of how to improve the administrative management of the executive branch, I transmitted with my approval certain recommendations for strengthening and developing the management arms of the President. Those three management arms deal with (1) budget, and efficiency research, (2) planning, and (3) personnel. My accumulated experience during the 2 years since that time has deepened my conviction that it is necessary for the President to have direct access to these managerial agencies in order that he may have the machinery to enable him to carry out his constitutional responsibility, and in order that he may be able to control expenditures, to increase efficiency, to eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort, and to be able to get the information which will permit him the better to advise the Congress concerning the state of the Union and the program of the Government.

Therefore, I find it necessary and desirable in carrying out the purposes of the act to transfer the Bureau of the Budget to the Executive Office of the President from the Treasury Department. It is apparent from the legislative history of the Budget and Accounting Act that it was the purpose in 1921 to set up an Executive Budget for which the President would be primarily responsible to the Congress and to the people, and that the Director of the Budget was to act under the immediate direction and supervision of the President. While no serious difficulties have been encountered because of the fact that the Bureau of the Budget was placed in the Treasury Department so far as making budgetary estimates has been concerned, it is apparent that its coordinating activities and its research and investigational activities recently provided for by the Congress, will be facilitated if the Bureau is not a part of 1 of the 10 executive departments. Also, in order that the Bureau of the Budget may the better carry out its work of coordination and investigation, I find it desirable and necessary in order to accomplish the purposes of the act to transfer to the Bureau of the Budget the functions of the Central Statistical Board.

By these transfers to the Executive Office, the President will be given immediate access to that managerial agency which is concerned with the preparation and administration of the Budget, with the coordination of the work of the governmental agencies, and with research and investigation necessary to accomplish the five definite purposes of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

I also find it necessary and desirable to transfer to the Executive Office of the President the National Resources Committee, now an independent establishment, and to consolidate with it by transfer from the Department of Commerce the functions of the Federal Employment Stabilization Office, the consolidated unit to be known as the National Resources Planning Board. This Board would be made up as is the present Advisory Board of the National Resources Committee of citizens giving part-time services to the Government, who aided by their technical staff would be able to advise the President, the Congress, and the people with respect to plans and programs for the conservation of the national resources, physical and human. By these transfers to the Executive Office, the President will be given more direct access to and immediate direction over that agency which is concerned with planning for the utilization and conservation of the national resources, an indispensable part of the equipment of the Chief Executive.

On previous occasions I have recommended and I hereby renew and emphasize my recommendation that the work of this Board be placed upon a permanent statutory basis.

Because of an exemption in the act, it is impossible to transfer to the Executive Office the administration of the third managerial function of the Government, that of personnel. However, I desire to inform the Congress that it is my purpose to name one of the administrative assistants to the President, authorized in the Reorganization Act of 1939, to serve as a liaison agent of the White House on personnel management.

In this manner, the President will be given for the first time direct access to the three principal necessary management agencies of the Government. None of the three belongs in any existing department. With their assistance, and with this reorganization, it will be possible for the President to continue the task of making investigations of the organization of the Government in order to control expenditures, increase efficiency, and eliminate overlapping.

Studies heretofore made by me and researches made at my direction, as well as recommendations submitted by me to the Congress, and especially those contained in my message of January 12, 1937, indicate clearly that to carry out the purposes of the Reorganization Act of 1939 to group, coordinate, and consolidate agencies of the Government according to major purposes and to reduce the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions under a single head, would require the provision of 3 general agencies in addition to the 10 executive departments.

It is my objective, then, by transfer, consolidation, and abolition to set up a Federal Security Agency, a Federal Works Agency, and a Federal Loan Agency, and then to distribute among the 10 executive departments and these 3 new agencies, the major independent establishments in the Government (excepting those exempt from the operations of the act) in order to minimize overlapping and duplication, to increase efficiency and to reduce expenditures to the fullest extent consistent with the efficient operation of the Government.

I find it necessary and desirable to group in a Federal Security Agency those agencies of the Government, the major purposes of which are to promote social and economic security, educational opportunity, and the health of the citizens of the Nation.

The agencies to be grouped are the Social Security Board, now an independent establishment, the United States Employment Service, now in the Department of Labor, the Office of Education, now in the Department of the Interior, the Public Health Service, now in the Treasury Department, the National Youth Administration, now in the Works Progress Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, now an independent agency.

The Social Security Board is placed under the Federal Security Agency, and at the same time the United States Employment Service is transferred from the Department of Labor and consolidated with the unemployment compensation functions of the Social Security Board in order that their similar and related functions of social and economic security may be placed under a single head and their internal operations simplified and integrated.

The unemployment compensation functions of the Social Security Board and the employment service of the Department of Labor are concerned with the same problem, that of the employment, or the unemployment, of the individual worker.

Therefore, they deal necessarily with the same individual. These particular services to the particular individual also are bound up with the public-assistance activities of the Social Security Board. Not only will these similar functions be more efficiently and economically administered at the Federal level by such grouping and consolidation, but this transfer and merger also will be to the advantage of the administration of State social security programs and result in considerable saving of money in the administrative costs of the governments of the 48 States as well as those of the United States. In addition to this saving of money there will be a considerable saving of time and energy not only on the part of administrative officials concerned with this program in both Federal and State Governments, but also on the part of employers and workers, permitting through the simplification of procedures a reduction in the number of reports required and the elimination of unnecessary duplication in contacts with workers and with employers.

Because of the relationship of the educational opportunities of the country to the security of its individual citizens, the Office of Education with all of its functions, including, of course, its administration of Federal-State programs of vocational education, is transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Federal Security Agency. This transfer does not increase or extend the activities of the Federal Government in respect to education, but does move the existing activities into a grouping where the work may be carried on more efficiently and expeditiously, and where coordination and the elimination of overlapping may be better accomplished. The Office of Education has no relationship to the other functions of the Department of the Interior.

The Public Health Service is transferred from the Treasury Department to the Federal Security Agency. It is obvious that the health activities of the Federal Government may be better carried out when so grouped than if they are left in the Treasury, which is primarily a fiscal agency, and where the necessary relationships with other social security, employment, and educational activities now must be carried on by an elaborate scheme of interdepartmental committee work.

The National Youth Administration is transferred from the Works Progress Administration to the Federal Security Agency since its major purpose is to extend the educational opportunities of the youth of the country and to bring them through the processes of training into the possession of skills which enable them to find employment. Other divisions of the Federal Security Agency will have the task of finding jobs, providing for unemployment compensation, and other phases of social security, while still other units of the new agency will be concerned with the problem of primary and secondary education, as well as vocational education and job training and retraining for employment. While much of the work of the National Youth Administration has been carried on through work projects, these have been merely the process through which its major purpose was accomplished, and, therefore, this agency under the terms of the act should be grouped with the other security agencies rather than with the work agencies.

For similar reasons the Civilian Conservation Corps, now an independent establishment, is placed under the Federal Security Agency because of the fact that its major purpose is to promote the welfare and further the training of the individuals who make up the corps, important as may be the construction work which they have carried on so successfully. The Civilian Conservation Corps is a small coordinating agency which supervises work carried on with the cooperation of several regular departments and independent units of the Government. This transfer would not interfere with the plan of work heretofore carried on but it would enable the Civilian Conservation Corps to coordinate its policies, as well as its operations, with those other agencies of the Government concerned with the educational and health activities and with human security.

In order to carry out the purpose of the Reorganization Act of 1939 I find it necessary and desirable to group and consolidate under a Federal Works Agency those agencies of the Federal Government dealing with public works not incidental to the normal work of other departments, and which administer Federal grants or loans to State and local governments or other agencies for the purposes of construction.

The agencies so to be grouped are: The Bureau of Public Roads, now in the Department of Agriculture; the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division, now in the Treasury Department; and the Branch of Building Management of the National Park Service (so far as it is concerned with public buildings which it operates for other departments or agencies) now in the Department of the Interior; the United States Housing Authority, now in the Department of the Interior; the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (familiarly known as P. W. A.); and the Works Progress Administration (familiarly known as W. P. A.) except the functions of the National Youth Administration.

The transfer of both the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration to the new Federal Works Agency would provide for both principal types of public works that have been carried on by the Federal Government directly or in cooperation with the State and local governments. I find that it will be possible to reduce administrative costs as well as to improve efficiency and to eliminate overlapping by bringing these different programs of public works under a common head. But, because of the differences that justified their separate operation in the past and differences that will continue in the future to distinguish certain phases of major public works from work relief, I find it necessary to maintain them at least for the present as separate subordinate units of the Federal Works Agency.

The present Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works is placed under the Federal Works Agency under the shorter name of Public Works Administration.

The name of the Works Progress Administration has been changed to Works Projects Administration in order to make its title more descriptive of its major purpose.

The Bureau of Public Roads is transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Federal Works Agency and as a separate unit under the name of Public Roads Administration. This will bring the administration of the Federal roads program with its grants-in-aid to the States into coordination with other major public-works programs and other programs of grants and loans to the States.

The construction and operation of many public buildings is now carried on in two agencies which are consolidated under the new Federal Works Agency, namely the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department (which is concerned with the construction of Federal buildings and with the operation of many public buildings outside the District of Columbia) and the Branch of Building Management of the National Park Service, of the Department of the Interior, which is concerned with the operation of public buildings in the District of Columbia. These two separate activities are consolidated in one unit to be known as the Public Buildings Administration. Improved efficiency, coordination of effort, and savings will result from this transfer and consolidation.

Then, also, there is transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Federal Works Agency the United States Housing Authority. The major purpose of the United States Housing Authority is to administer grants-in-aid and loans to local public housing authorities in accordance with its established standards of construction in that part of the housing field which cannot be reached economically by private enterprise. For these reasons, it should be grouped with those other agencies which have to do with public works, with grants and loans to State and local governments and with construction practices and standards.

In order to carry out the purposes of the Reorganization Act of 1939 I find it necessary and desirable to group under a Federal Loan Agency those independent lending agencies of the Government which have been established from time to time for the purpose of stimulating and stabilizing the financial, commercial, and industrial enterprises of the Nation.

The agencies to be grouped in the Federal Loan Agency are: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Electric Home and Farm Authority, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Housing Administration, and their associated agencies and boards, as well as the Export-Import Bank of Washington.

Since 1916 the Congress has established from time to time agencies for providing loans, directly or indirectly, for the stimulation and stabilization of agriculture, and such agencies should in my opinion be grouped with the other agricultural activities of the Government. For that reason I find it necessary and desirable to accomplish the purposes of the act to transfer the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation, and the Commodity Credit Corporation and associated agencies to the Department of Agriculture.

One of the five purposes of the Reorganization Act of 1939 is “to reduce expenditures to the fullest extent consistent with the efficient operation of the Government.” This purpose is important in each phase of the plan here presented. The Reorganization Act prohibits abolishing functions—in other words basic services or activities performed. Therefore the reduction in expenditures to be effected must necessarily be brought about chiefly in the overhead administrative expenses of the agencies set up to perform certain functions. The chance for economy arises therefore not from stopping work, but from organizing the work and the overhead more efficiently in combination with other similar activities. Only the Congress can abolish or curtail functions now provided by law.

The overhead administrative costs of all the agencies affected in Reorganization Plan No. I is about $235,000,000. This does not include the loans they make, the benefits they pay, the wages of the unemployed who have been given jobs; it does not include the loans and grants to States or, in short, the functional expense. It does include the overhead expense of operating and administering all these agencies.

The reduction of administrative expenditures which it is probable will be brought about by the taking effect of the reorganizations specified in the plan is estimated as nearly as may be at between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000 annually, a substantial lowering of the existing overhead. Certain of these economies can be brought about almost immediately, others will require a painstaking and gradual readjustment in the machinery and business practices of the Government.

Any such estimate is incomplete, however, without reference to the corresponding savings which will follow in the States and cities through the recommended consolidation of the Federal services with which they cooperate, and the improved efficiency and convenience which will be felt by citizens all over the Nation—many of whom will be able to find in a single office many of the services now scattered in several places. These economies will undoubtedly exceed the direct savings in the Federal Budget.

It will not be necessary to ask the Congress for any additional appropriations for the administrative expenses of the three consolidated agencies set up in this plan, since their costs will be met from funds now available for the administrative expenses of their component units. Actually new expenses will be only a fractional part of the expected savings.

Neither on this Reorganization Plan No. I nor on future reorganization plans, covering interdepartmental changes and intradepartmental changes, will every person agree on each and every detail. It is true that out of the many groupings and regroupings proposed in this message a few of the individual agencies could conceivably be placed elsewhere.

Nevertheless, I have been seeking to consider the functional origin and purpose of each agency as required by the reorganization bill itself.

If in the future experience shows that one or two of them should be regrouped, it will be wholly possible for the President and the Congress to make the change.

The plan presented herewith represents 2 years of study. It is a simple and easily understood plan. It conforms to methods of executive administration used by large private enterprises which are engaged in many lines of production. Finally, it will save a sum of money large in comparison with the existing overhead of the agencies involved.

I trust, therefore, that the Congress will view the plan as a whole and make it possible to take the first step in improving the executive administration of the Government of the United States.

The White House, April 25, 1939.

Transfers and consolidations relating to the Department of State are hereby effected as follows:

(a)–(c). [Repealed. August 13, 1946, ch. 957, title XI, § 1131(65), 60 Stat. 1040. The act, Aug. 13, 1946 was repealed by Pub. L. 96–465, title II, § 2205(1), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2159. Subsecs. provided that Foreign Commerce Service and Foreign Agricultural Service were transferred to Department of State and consolidated with and administered as part of Foreign Service under Secretary of State, and that functions of Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Agriculture with respect thereto were transferred, with certain exceptions to Secretary of State.]

Such officer of the Foreign Service as the Secretary of State shall make available for that purpose may be authorized by the Secretary of Commerce to perform the duties of China Trade Act Registrar provided for in the act of September 19, 1922, (42 Stat. 849) [15 U.S.C. 143], under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce.

(e) [Repealed. Pub. L. 88–94, § 2(f), Aug. 12, 1963, 77 Stat. 122. Subsection transferred the Foreign Service Buildings Commission and its functions to the Department of State. See 22 U.S.C. 295 (d).]

[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section made following transfers, consolidations, and abolitions relating to the Treasury Department: (a) The Bureau of Lighthouses in the Department of Commerce and its functions were transferred to and consolidated with, and to be administered as a part of, the Coast Guard in the Treasury Department; (b) The office of Director General of Railroads was abolished and the functions and duties were transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury; (c) The War Finance Corporation was abolished, the remaining functions, property, and obligations were transferred to the Treasury Department, and the Secretary was directed to wind up its affairs and dispose of its assets.]

Transfers, consolidations, and abolitions relating to the Department of Justice are hereby effected as follows:

The Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (together with its Board of Directors), and its functions are hereby transferred to the Department of Justice and shall be administered under the general direction and supervision of the Attorney General.

The National Training School for Boys and its functions (including the functions of its Board of Trustees) are hereby transferred to the Department of Justice and shall be administered by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, under the direction and supervision of the Attorney General.

The Board of Trustees of the National Training School for Boys (including the consulting trustees) is hereby abolished.

Transfers, consolidations, and abolitions relating to the Department of the Interior are hereby effected as follows:

The functions of the National Bituminous Coal Commission (including the functions of the members of the Commission) are hereby transferred to the Secretary of the Interior to be administered under his direction and supervision by such division, bureau, or office in the Department of the Interior as the Secretary shall determine.

The National Bituminous Coal Commission and the offices of the members thereof are hereby abolished and the outstanding affairs of the Commission shall be wound up by the Secretary of the Interior.

The office of Consumers’ Counsel of the National Bituminous Coal Commission is hereby abolished and its functions are transferred to, and shall be administered in, the office of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior.

[Functions, records, property, and personnel of Consumer’s Counsel of the National Bituminous Coal Commission, which were transferred by this Plan to office of Solicitor of Department of Interior, were retransferred to Office of Bituminous Coal Consumer Counsel by 15 U.S.C. 852. Such Office terminated Aug. 24, 1943.]

The Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department and its functions are hereby transferred to the Department of the Interior and shall be consolidated with the Division of Territories and Island Possessions in the Department of the Interior and administered in such Division under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. The office of the Chief of the Bureau and offices subordinate thereto provided for in section 14 of the act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 769) [48 U.S.C. 2, 3], are hereby abolished and all of the functions of such offices are transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Director of the Division of Territories and Island Possessions.

The Bureau of Fisheries in the Department of Commerce and its functions are hereby transferred to the Department of the Interior and shall be administered in that Department under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. The functions of the Secretary of Commerce relating to the protection of fur seals and other fur-bearing animals, to the supervision of the Pribilof Islands and the care of the natives thereof, and to the Whaling Treaty Act [16 U.S.C. 901–915], are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Secretary of the Interior.

The Bureau of Biological Survey in the Department of Agriculture and its functions are hereby transferred to the Department of the Interior and shall be administered in that Department under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. The functions of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to the conservation of wildlife, game, and migratory birds are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the Secretary of the Interior. The provisions of the act of May 18, 1934, (c. 299, 48 Stat. 780), as amended by the act of February 8, 1936 (c. 40, 49 Stat. 1105 [see 18 U.S.C. 111, 1114, 2231], insofar as they relate to officers or employees of the Department of Agriculture designated by the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce any act of Congress for the protection, preservation, or restoration of game and other wildlife and animals shall apply to officers and employees of the Department of the Interior designated by the Secretary of the Interior to exercise and discharge such duties.

The provisions of the act of January 31, 1925 (c. 124, 43 Stat. 803), [former 5 U.S.C. 17, 7 U.S.C. 2217, 2218], shall be applicable to such officers, agents, or employees of the Department of the Interior performing functions of the Bureau of Biological Survey as are designated by the Secretary of the Interior for the purposes named in the act.

The Secretary of the Interior shall be chairman of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall be a member thereof.

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission and its functions are hereby transferred to the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior. The functions vested in the Commission by sections 3 and 4(a) of the act of June 15, 1938 (c. 402, 52 Stat. 694) shall continue to be exercised by the Commission. All other functions of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission shall be administered by the National Park Service under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior.

The Rural Electrification Administration and its functions and activities are hereby transferred to the Department of Agriculture and shall be administered in that Department by the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration under the general direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.

The Inland Waterways Corporation and all of its functions and obligations are hereby transferred to the Department of Commerce and shall be administered in that Department under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of Commerce. The capital stock of the Corporation shall continue to be held for the United States by the Secretary of the Treasury, but all other functions, rights, privileges, and powers and all duties and liabilities of the Secretary of War relating to the Inland Waterways Corporation are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised, performed, and discharged by, the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce shall be substituted for the Secretary of War, as and shall be deemed to be, the incorporator of the Inland Waterways Corporation.

[Pub. L. 88–67, § 2, July 19, 1963, 77 Stat. 81, provided for liquidation of the affairs of the Inland Waterways Corporation.]

Transfers and consolidations relating to the Federal Security Agency are hereby effected as follows:

The functions of the Radio Division and the United States Film Service of the National Emergency Council are hereby transferred to the Federal Security Agency and shall be administered in the Office of Education under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator. [Functions of Radio Division were authorized to be carried out until June 30, 1940, by Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939, § 8.]

The functions of the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the administration of the appropriations for the American Printing House for the Blind (except the function relating to the perpetual trust fund) are hereby transferred to the Federal Security Agency and shall be administered under the direction and supervision of the Federal Security Administrator. The annual report and vouchers required to be furnished to the Secretary of the Treasury by the trustees of the American Printing House for the Blind shall be furnished to the Federal Security Administrator.

Transfers, consolidations, and abolitions relating to the National Archives are hereby effected as follows:

The functions of the Codification Board, established by the Act of June 19, 1937 (50 Stat. 304) [44 U.S.C. 1510], are hereby transferred to the National Archives and shall be consolidated in that agency with the functions of the Division of the Federal Register and shall be administered by such Division under the direction and supervision of the Archivist.

The Codification Board is hereby abolished and its outstanding affairs shall be wound up by the Archivist through the Division of the Federal Register in the National Archives.

Sec. 301. Transfers and abolitions relating to the Executive Office of the President are hereby effected as follows:

All functions of the National Emergency Council other than those relating to Radio Service and Film Service (transferred by Section 201(a) of this plan to the Federal Security Agency) are hereby transferred to the Executive Office of the President and shall be administered under the direction and supervision of the President. [Functions of National Emergency Council transferred to Executive Office of President were authorized to be carried out until June 30, 1940, by Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1939, § 8.]

The National Emergency Council is hereby abolished and its outstanding affairs shall be wound up under the direction and supervision of the President.

Except as otherwise provided in this plan, the functions of the head of any Department relating to the administration of any agency or function transferred from his Department by this plan, are hereby transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the head of the department or agency to which such transferred agency or function is transferred by this plan.

All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies, and all records and property used primarily in the administration of any functions, transferred by this plan and, except as otherwise provided, all the personnel used in the administration of such agencies and functions (including officers whose chief duties relate to such administration) are hereby transferred to the respective departments or agencies concerned, for use in the administration of the agencies and functions transferred by this plan: Provided, That any personnel transferred to any department or agency by this section found by the head of such department or agency to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the administration of the functions transferred to his department or agency shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government service, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available for the use of any agency in the exercise of any function transferred by this plan, or for the use of the head of any department or agency in the exercise of any function so transferred, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget with the approval of the President shall determine, shall be transferred to the department or agency concerned for use in connection with the exercise of the function so transferred. In determining the amount to be transferred the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer: Provided, That the use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this section shall be subject to the provisions of section 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

Except as prohibited by the Reorganization Act of 1939, all functions relating to the appointment, fixing of compensation, transfer, promotion, demotion, suspension, or dismissal of persons to or from offices and positions in any department vested by law in any officer of such department other than the head thereof are hereby transferred to the head of such department and shall be administered under his direction and supervision by such division, bureau, office, or persons as he shall determine.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1939 (Public, No. 19, 76th Cong., 1st Sess.) approved April 3, 1939, I herewith transmit Reorganization Plan No. II, which, after investigation, I have prepared in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the act; and I declare that with respect to each transfer, consolidation, or abolition made in Reorganization Plan No. II, I have found that such transfer, consolidation, or abolition is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes of section 1 (a) of the act.

In my message to the Congress on April 25, 1939, transmitting Reorganization Plan No. I, I took occasion to say that, it being obviously impracticable to complete the task of reorganization at one time, I had decided, in view of the declaration of the Congress that it should be accomplished immediately and speedily, to undertake it in several steps.

Plan No. I, had to do with overall management. Plan No. II, transmitted herewith, is designed to improve the work of the executive branch for which, although carried on through executive departments and agencies, the responsibility to the people is through the President. It is concerned with the sole purpose of improving the administrative management of the executive branch by a more logical grouping of existing units and functions and by a further reduction in the number of independent agencies.

I am transmitting Reorganization Plan No. II as the result of studies that have been made for me and of my own experience over a period of several years, as the best way in which to regroup the agencies affected so as to fulfill the purposes of the act:

1. To reduce expenditures;

2. To increase efficiency;

3. To consolidate agencies according to major purposes;

4. To reduce the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions and by abolishing such as may not be necessary; and

5. To eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.

The plan I now transmit I shall describe briefly as follows:

I proposed to transfer the Foreign Commerce Service of the United States and its functions now in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce and the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States and its functions in the Department of Agriculture to the Department of State, and to consolidate them with the Foreign Service of the United States under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of State.

By this transfer and consolidation, there will be a single Foreign Service in the Department of State, but this does not mean that the interests of the commercial and agricultural communities are to be neglected, for it is a part of the Plan that representatives of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce shall be placed on the Board of Foreign Service Personnel and that specific investigations relating to commerce and agriculture shall be initiated directly by the Secretaries of these two Departments who will receive directly the results of investigations in their own fields.

A much greater degree of coordination and effectiveness in our foreign establishments can be achieved under the plan than has ever before been possible. The needs of the different Departments and Agencies of the Government will be met more efficiently and the responsiveness of the foreign establishments to these needs will be greatly improved.

The plan presupposes that it may be necessary from time to time for various Departments and Agencies of the Government to send abroad specialists and technicians for relatively temporary duty. While these will not be in the Foreign Service, strictly speaking, they will be given a suitable commission by the Department of State, on a temporary basis, so that they may have the same obligations as other officers of the Foreign Service while on duty abroad.

The plan also presupposes a special training period within the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture for Foreign Service officers selected to specialize in commercial or agricultural work and contemplates the fullest utilization of the experience gained abroad by Foreign Service officers in the work of the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture in this country. There will be stationed in the Department of State a liaison officer of the Department of Commerce and of the Department of Agriculture to make effective the proposed cooperation.

The plan specifically leaves undisturbed the relationships of the Department of Commerce and of the Department of Agriculture with the commercial and agricultural communities. What it does do is to consolidate the foreign services into one Foreign Service in the Department of State, where it ought to be, with the resulting advantages of economy, efficiency, better functional grouping, elimination of overlapping and duplication of effort, and greater service to our commercial and agricultural interests.

There is also transferred to the Department of State the Foreign Service Buildings Commission and its functions. This Commission is advisory to the administrative work of the Department of State and should no longer have the status of an independent establishment.

The Bureau of Lighthouses now in the Department of Commerce is transferred to the Treasury Department and consolidated with the Coast Guard in that Department. The advantages of this consolidation are obvious and fall clearly within the provision of the act requiring me to consolidate agencies according to major purposes. This will save money on equipment and administration and will permit the better use of personnel.

The plan also includes the abolition of the Office of the Director General of Railroads and of the War Finance Corporation and the transfer of their functions to the Secretary of the Treasury to be wound up by him as rapidly as may be. In the case of the War Finance Corporation, it is directed that the final dissolution shall be accomplished not later than December 31, 1939.

I further propose to transfer to the Department of Justice the Federal Prison Industries, Inc., and the National Training School for Boys, and at the same time to abolish the board of trustees of the National Training School for Boys. Responsibility for the Federal penal and correctional institutions is in the Department of Justice and these two independent establishments should be consolidated therein. None of the other Federal penal or correctional institutions has a board of trustees and there is no need of further continuing the board of the National Training School.

The plan also provides for the abolition of the Codification Board established for the purpose of codifying existing administrative law and the transfer of its functions to the Division of the Federal Register in the National Archives. The work of this board has now progressed to the point where a separate board is no longer necessary and the future work of keeping the codification up to date can more efficiently and economically be carried on by the editorial staff of the Federal Register.

I find it necessary and desirable in order to accomplish the purposes of the Reorganization Act to abolish the National Bituminous Coal Commission and to transfer its functions to the Secretary of the Interior. Thus the task of conserving the bituminous-coal resources of the country may be carried on directly by the head of the Department principally responsible for the conservation of fuel and other mineral supplies. The Congress placed this Commission in the Department of the Interior, but experience has shown that direct administration will be cheaper, better, and more effective than through the cumbersome medium of an unnecessary commission.

The transfer to the Department of the Interior of the Bureau of Insular Affairs in the War Department and its consolidation with the Division of Territories and Island Possessions in Interior is a functional transfer of obvious desirability. Under the provisions of existing law, however, I shall direct, where necessary, that certain correspondence from the Governor General of the Philippines shall be transmitted to the President through the Department of State.

The plan provides for the transfer to the Department of the Interior of the Bureau of Fisheries from the Department of Commerce and of the Bureau of Biological Survey from the Department of Agriculture. These two Bureaus have to do with conservation and utilization of the wildlife resources of the country, terrestrial and aquatic. Therefore, they should be grouped under the same departmental administration, and in that Department which, more than any other, is directly responsible for the administration and conservation of the public domain. However, I intend to direct that the facilities of the Department of Agriculture shall continue to be used for research studies which have to do with the protection of domestic animals from diseases of wildlife; and also where most economical for the protection to farmers and stockmen against predatory animals.

The plan also provides for the transfer of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission to the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior in order that this great memorial may be administered as a part of the similar work of the Park Service.

Included in the plan is a provision to transfer to the Department of Agriculture the Rural Electrification Administration, now operated as an independent establishment. The work of this administration in its educational as well as its lending functions is clearly a part of the rural life activities of the country and should, therefore, be administered in coordination with the other agricultural activities of the Government.

The Inland Waterways Corporation is transferred to the Department of Commerce from the War Department. This corporation, which operates inland waterways transportation facilities, should be coordinated with the administration of other aids to commerce and industry.

I propose to transfer to the Federal Security Agency, for administration in the Office of Education, the film and radio functions of the National Emergency Council. These are clearly a part of the educational activities of the Government and should be consolidated with similar activities already carried on in the Office of Education. Similarly, Government participation in the work of the American Printing House for the Blind, except fiscal functions relating to trust funds, is transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Federal Security Agency, in order that this work may be coordinated with the other work for the blind now being carried on in the Social Security Board.

The plan provides for the abolition of the National Emergency Council and the transfer to the Executive Office of the President of all its functions with the exception of the film and radio activities which go to the Office of Education. Subject to appropriations by the Congress, these activities transferred to the White House would be administered in the manner best designed to give the President the information he requires from all parts of the country.

The National Emergency Council was established by Executive order in 1933 and is composed of the President, the Vice President, the Members of the Cabinet, and the heads of some 23 independent establishments. Its usefulness as an actual council, which met weekly under my chairmanship, was very great in the period of the emergency which then confronted the country, but, as time has gone on, it no longer operates as a council but does continue to carry on important activities which are indispensable to the President of the United States, as well as to other branches of the Government, and the public. It maintains an information service and a press intelligence service, it publishes the United States Government Manual, and it carries on through State and central staffs an important work of coordinating and reporting.

The information service makes available general information concerning all phases of governmental activity and is provided for all who submit questions or inquiries by mail, by telephone, or by personal call. In one sense it may be called a post-office address—“Uncle Sam, Post Office Box No. 1, Washington, D.C.”—to which persons who want information about the Government but do not know the exact division or agency of the Government to which to apply, may write with confidence that their questions will be answered or else sent on to the proper agency for direct reply.

The press intelligence service carried on in the Council is not a service for giving intelligence to the press, but rather for making available to responsible persons in the Government, both in the executive and in the legislative branches, a clipping service, which shows what the press of the country has printed. The partial consolidation of clipping services in this unit—a consolidation which should go further—already has resulted in economy and convenience. A clipping service of this kind, on a smaller scale, was maintained for many years in the White House but it was not then available to other branches of the Government. Its return to the White House with the additional feature of availability to all the rest of the Government will promote efficiency without violating tradition.

The publication of the United States Government Manual makes available to every citizen a simplified textbook of information as to the organization and availability of the Federal agencies. Published in loose-leaf form, it is sold by the Superintendent of Documents of the Government Printing Office.

The coordinating and reporting functions of the Council have to do with the presentation to the President of factual information, independently gathered, as to the progress and effect of our governmental activities. Through its State offices the Council has been able to facilitate the various Federal programs particularly with respect to State and local governments.

The plan also includes certain general provisions in order to accomplish fully the purposes of the act. In addition to the transfer of bureaus and other units, it is necessary also to transfer certain functions of heads of departments; to transfer records, property, and personnel; to transfer funds; and to provide that the power of appointment occasionally, and sometimes apparently quite accidentally, vested in a subordinate official of a department, shall be vested in the head of the department. It is impossible to exercise the proper direction and supervision over subordinate units unless the definite power of appointment, fixing of compensation, transfer, and promotion or dismissal of personnel is vested in the principal responsible head. In no other way can the purpose of consolidating similar functions under a single head as required by the act be accomplished in practice.

It is one of the five purposes of the Reorganization Act “to reduce expenditures to the fullest extent consistent with the efficient operation of the Government.” This is an important purpose in each phase of the plan here presented. The Reorganization Act prohibits abolishing functions—in other words, basic services or activities performed. Therefore, the reduction in expenditures must necessarily be brought about chiefly in the overhead administrative expenses of the agencies affected. In a great many cases the economies to be effected by Reorganization Plan No. II will be the result of improved efficiency which will, as the plan works out, require fewer persons to perform the work or will require the employment of less temporary assistance.

In the case of the consolidation of the foreign services it is estimated that the administration by a single administrative unit in the Department of State will achieve a saving of $20,000 a year and that consolidation of the three field forces will make it possible to drop alien employees and, by a more effective use of personnel, to save an additional $100,000 a year when the readjustments have been made.

The total administrative expense of all of the agencies affected by this plan is about $25,000,000 per annum.

The reduction of such expenditures, which it is probable will be brought about by the taking effect of the reorganizations specified in the plan, is estimated at $1,250,000 per annum. Certain of these economies can be brought about at once. Others will require a gradual readjustment in machinery and business practices of the agencies affected.

May I repeat what I said in my message transmitting Reorganization Plan No. I, that in this as in future reorganization plans not every person will agree on each and every detail. Out of the many groupings and regroupings proposed, a few of the individual agencies conceivably could be placed elsewhere, but I have been seeking to consider the functional purpose of each agency as required by the Reorganization Act itself and have made this plan with the sole purpose of improving the service rendered by the Government to its citizens in accordance with the purposes set out in the act.

In view of the fact that it is now May 9, and that any reorganization plan must lie before the Congress for 60 calendar days, and because the reorganization of an intradepartmental character requires a great deal of research and careful painstaking detailed work, I do not propose to send any further general reorganization plans to the Congress at this session.

However, there are certain transfers, abolitions, and consolidations of committees, commissions, and boards which I propose to do by means of Executive and military orders under existing law as complementary to Reorganization Plan No. II when it becomes effective.

Then, also, by mere administrative procedure, some small agencies which have been listed in various publications as independent establishments but whose independence has no basis in law or in formal Executive or military orders, may be reassigned to an appropriate placement by administrative procedure on the part of their respective heads.

Not all of the interdepartmental transfers and consolidations that are necessary and desirable have been accomplished in this Reorganization Plan No. II. I am directing the Bureau of the Budget to study these problems in order that they may be included in plans to be transmitted to the Congress at its next session.

For example, in order to save money and to do the work more efficiently there are some units which should be divided so that a part of the work may be done by one agency and a part by another. Take, for example, the business of mapping. It is obviously important that the work of making surveys and accumulating data for maps should be done in the various agencies which are concerned primarily with the purpose for which the map is being drawn. On the other hand, the business of manufacturing maps might very well be consolidated in order to save money, and to manufacture better maps.

I have considered the desirability of transferring the jurisdiction over deportable aliens from the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice, but I find that this matter will require further study, or perhaps legislation, and therefore it is not included in this plan.

I have also considered the problem of certain public lands insofar as they present overlapping jurisdiction between the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture.

Insofar as crops, including tree crops, are involved there is something to be said for their retention in the Department of Agriculture. But where lands are to be kept for the primary purpose of recreation and permanent public use and conservation they fall more logically into the Department of the Interior.

I hope to offer a reorganization plan on this early in the next session.

There are other types of work carried on in the Federal Government where it may prove necessary and desirable to divide the functions now being carried on by a particular unit so as the better to serve the basic purpose for which the work was undertaken. Such problems I shall continue to study with the view of sending other reorganization plans involving both interdepartmental and intradepartmental reorganizations to the Congress at its next session.

The White House, May 22, 1940.

Ex. Ord. No. 8357 Mar. 2, 1940, 5 F.R. 950, provided:

Under the authority vested in me by section 1(b) of Part I of Reorganization Plan No. II (effective July 1, 1939, by Public Resolution approved June 7, 1939, 53 Stat. 1431), and in effectuation of the provisions of subdivisions (2), (3), and (4) of that section, I hereby prescribe the following regulations pertaining to officers designated by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agriculture under the said subdivisions:

1. Officers designated by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agriculture under subdivisions (2) and (3), respectively, of the said section 1(b) of Part I of Reorganization Plan No. II may, when acceptable to the Secretary of State, be sent abroad as specialists or technicians for temporary service under the provisions of, and subject to the conditions named in, section 5 of the act of March 3, 1927, 44 Stat. 1396 [former section 197d of Title 15], and section 2 of the act of June 5, 1930, 46 Stat. 498 [former section 542 of Title 7], as authorized by the said subdivisions (2) and (3), respectively.

2. The Secretary of State shall give suitable commissions to the officers described in paragraph 1 hereof and shall assign them to such offices as may be deemed necessary by him and the Secretary of the department concerned. Such officers, during the active period of their assignment, shall be considered a part of the organization of the Foreign Service, shall assume the status directed by the Secretary of State, and shall, in this respect, be subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State. With the approval of the chief of the office to which they are attached, such officers may request reports from Foreign Service officers upon matters falling within the jurisdiction of their respective departments. The duties of such officers shall be restricted to the accomplishment of the special missions within the scope of their assignments.

3. The officers designated by the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agriculture under subdivision (4) of the said section 1(b) of Part I of Reorganization Plan No. II to serve in the Department of State as liaison officers shall, when acceptable to the Secretary of State, serve in matters of interest to their respective departments.

[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section established the Fiscal Service of the Treasury Department, provided for the transfer of certain functions to the Fiscal Service and of certain functions relating to accounting, and abolished an office of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. See 31 U.S.C. 306.]

[Repealed. Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1068, 1085. Section abolished the Federal Alcohol Administration and provided that the Secretary administer its functions through the Bureau of Internal Revenue.]

The Bureau of Fisheries and the Bureau of Biological Survey in the Department of the Interior with their respective functions are consolidated into one agency in the Department of the Interior to be known as the Fish and Wildlife Service. The functions of the consolidated agency shall be administered under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior by a Director and not more than two Assistant Directors, who shall be appointed by the Secretary and perform such duties as he shall prescribe. The offices of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries and the offices of Chief and Associate Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey are abolished and their functions transferred to the consolidated agency.

The office of Recorder of the General Land Office is abolished. The functions of the Recorder shall be exercised under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior through such officers or employees of the General Land Office as he may designate.

The Division of Marketing and Marketing Agreements of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration of the Department of Agriculture and its functions and the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation as an agency of the Department of Agriculture and its functions are consolidated into an agency in the Department of Agriculture to be known as the Surplus Marketing Administration. The Surplus Marketing Administration shall be headed by an Administrator, who shall be appointed by and be subject to the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.

The offices of commissioner of immigration of the several ports and the offices of district commissioner of immigration and naturalization in the Department of Labor are abolished, and their functions shall be administered under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor by the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization through such district directors of immigration and naturalization as the Commissioner shall designate.

[Repealed. Pub. L. 85–726, title XIV, § 1401(c), Aug. 23, 1958, 72 Stat. 806. Section transferred to Administrator of Civil Aeronautics functions vested in Civil Aeronautics Authority by Civilian Pilot Training Act of 1939, functions of aircraft registration and safety regulation in titles V and VI of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 with certain exceptions, the function provided for by section 1101 of that Act, and functions of appointing employees and authorizing necessary expenditures and travel.]

All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies, and all records and property used primarily in the administration of any functions, transferred or consolidated by this Plan and all the personnel used in the administration of such agencies and functions (including officers whose chief duties relate to such administration and whose offices are not abolished) are transferred or consolidated, as the case may be, within the department or agency concerned, for use in the administration of the agencies and functions transferred or consolidated by this Plan: Provided, That any personnel transferred or consolidated within any department or agency by this section found by the head of such department or agency to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the administration of the functions transferred or consolidated shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government service, or separated from the service subject to the provisions of section 10(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available (including funds available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941) for the use of any agency in the exercise of any function transferred or consolidated by this Plan, or for the use of the head of any department or agency in the exercise of any function so transferred or consolidated, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget with the approval of the President shall determine, shall be transferred within the department or agency concerned for use in connection with the exercise of the function so transferred or consolidated. In determining the amount to be transferred the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer: Provided, That the use of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds transferred by this section shall be subject to the provisions of sections 4 (d)(3) and section 9 of the Reorganization Act of 1939.

When I submitted Reorganization Plans I and II at the last regular session of Congress, I indicated that certain reorganizations of an intradepartmental character were necessary but that detailed study would be required for the preparation of specific plans. Since that time the heads of the executive departments and my own office have continued to study the internal organization of the several agencies of the Government. I have considered recommendations made to me as a result of these studies and have found it possible to make a number of needed improvements of organization by administrative action. In other instances, I can effect the necessary changes only under the procedure set up in the Reorganization Act of 1939.

I am transmitting herewith Reorganization Plan III, which I have prepared in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the Reorganization Act of 1939 (Public, No. 19, 76th Cong., 1st sess.) approved April 3, 1939; and I declare that with respect to each reorganization made in this plan, I have found that such reorganization is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes of section 1(a) of the act:

1. To reduce expenditures;

2. To increase efficiency;

3. To consolidate agencies according to major purposes;

4. To reduce the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions and by abolishing such as may not be necessary; and

5. To eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.

I am proposing two intradepartmental reorganizations relating to the Treasury Department.

The first reorganization consolidates in a Fiscal Service, under the direction of a permanent Fiscal Assistant Secretary, those functions of the Treasury Department pertaining to financing and fiscal activities. This Fiscal Service will bring together the Office of the Treasurer of the United States, the Office of Commissioner of Accounts and Deposits, and the Public Debt Service, including their various subdivisions and certain other related functions.

Some adjustments are made in the assignment of functions of the units which will comprise the Fiscal Service, and certain changes are made in titles. The net effect of these adjustments is to establish within the Fiscal Service the Office of Fiscal Assistant Secretary, the Office of the Treasurer of the United States, and a Bureau of Accounts under a Commissioner of Accounts, and a Bureau of Public Debt under the Commissioner of Public Debt. In addition to responsibility for the administration of these four segments of the Department’s operations, the Fiscal Assistant Secretary is vested with the financing functions of the Under Secretary of the Treasury and of the Assistant Secretaries.

The functions brought together in the Fiscal Service are all closely interrelated and are essential parts of the general functions of financing and fiscal control. The internal organization of the Fiscal Service conforms to accepted principles of financial management and provides the framework for adequate internal controls. At the same time, under the proposed plan these functions can be coordinated more effectively, duplications eliminated, and a more efficient service provided. To assure continued effective management of this highly important and technical phase of the Treasury functions, I am placing the Fiscal Service under the supervision of a career official. The plan, therefore, provides that the Fiscal As