chief assistant appraiser of merchandise by section 2629 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (19 U. S. C. 8); (3) The functions prescribed for the surveyor of customs by section 2627 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (19 U. S. C. 40); (4) The functions prescribed for the appraiser of merchandise by section 2944 of the Revised Statutes (19 U. S. C. 56); (5) The functions prescribed for the collector of customs and the surveyor of customs by section 2648 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (19 U. S. C. 57); (6) The functions prescribed for the collector of customs, the comptroller of customs, the surveyor of customs, and the appraiser of merchandise by the Act of December 18, 1890, chapter 22, 26 Statutes 690, as amended (19 U. S. C. 62); (7) The functions prescribed for the comptroller of customs by sections 2621 and 2626 of the Revised Statutes and sections 439, 440, and 523 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 33, 39, 1439, 1440, 1523); (8) The functions prescribed for the collector of customs, the comptroller of customs, and the surveyor of customs by sections 2635, 2639, 2640, 2641, 2643, and 2647 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (19 U. S. C. 59, 42, 43, 44, 45, 55); (9) The functions prescribed for the comptroller of customs and the surveyor of customs by section 3650 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (31 U. S. C. 549); and (10) The functions prescribed for the collector of customs by sections 2621, 2622, and 2623 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (19 U. S. C. 33, 34, 35). (b) The abolition of functions by subsection (a) of this section shall not be construed as (1) Modifying requirements of laws not specified herein which contain requirements substatnially identical with, or similar to, any of those contained in statutes enumerated in this section; (2) Precluding the Secretary of the Treasury from exercising his existing authority to require any officer or employee of the Customs Service to perform functions of the types which are hereby abolished; or (3) Authorizing or permitting any officer or agency outside the Department of the Treasury to perform any function now vested by law in the Secretary of the Treasury. SEC 4. Effective dates.—(a) With respect to offices having a specified statutory term of office the provisions of section 1 of this reorganization plan shall become effective as follows: (1) In the case of each office in which there is no incumbent on the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, or in which the incumbent is then holding over atfer the expiration of his term of office, the effective date shall be such date as the Secretary of the Treasury shall specify, but in no event later than January 1, 1953; and (2) in the case of each office in which an incumbent is, on the date determined under the said section 6 (a), serving under an appointment for a specified term of office which has not expired, the effective date shall be the date on which the term of office expires, or any earlier date on which the office becomes vacant. (b) In the case of any office not having a specified statutory term of office, the effective date of the provisions of section 1 of this reorganization plan shall be such date as the Secretary of the Treasury shall specify, but in any event before January 1, 1953. (c) The provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this reorganization plan shall become effective on the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949. [H. Doc. No. 427, 82d Cong., 2d sess.] MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 4, OF 1952, PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1949 AND PROVIDING FOR THE REORGANIZATIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE To the Congress of the United States: I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1952, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949 and providing for reorganizations in the Department of Justice. My reasons for transmitting this plan are stated in another message transmitted to the Congress today. This reorganization plan vests authority in the Attorney General to appoint United States marshals under the classified civil service. This is accomplished by abolishing 94 existing offices of marshal, and by creating 94 successor offices of United States marshal to which the Attorney General will make appointments under the classified civil service. I have made provisions to outhorize incumbent marshals to serve out their present terms of office. Under the authority of section 6 of the Reorganization Act of 1949 this reorganization plan will become effective gradually. The abolition of offices by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1952 will not abolish any rights, privileges, powers, duties, immunities, liabilities, obligations, or other attributes of those offices except as they relate to matters of appointment, tenure, and compensation inconsistent with that reorganization plan. Under the Reorganization Act of 1949, all of these attributes of office will attach to the new offices of United States marshal, either automatically or upon the occurrence of an appropriate delegation of functions to such new offices by the Attorney General. For example, the statutory provisions requiring the marshals to be bonded (28 U. S. C., 544) will attach to the successor offices of United States marshal created by Reorganization Plan 4 of 1952. After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan 4 of 1952 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949. I have found and hereby declare that it is necessary to include in the accompanying reorganization plan, by reason of reorganizations made thereby, provisions for the appointment and compensation of offices specified therein. The rates of compensation fixed for these officers are not in excess of those which I have found to prevail in respect of comparable officers in the executive branch. Immediate and substantial economies are not expected from this reorganization plan since it is designed primarily to serve other purposes of the Reorganization Act of 1949. Therefore, no itemization of the probable reduction of expenditures to be achieved by this plan is included in this message of transmittal. Reorganization Plan No. 4 provides for increased administrative accountability in an important department of the executive branch by giving the Attorney General needed authority to appoint under the merit system a group of subordinates for whose performance he is already held responsible. It carries forward an objective partially realized in 1941 when the deputy marshals were brought into the classified civil service under the terms of the Ramspeck Act of 1940. It places the determination of the qualifications and the selection of a group of non-policy-making field officers of the Department of Justice on a systematic, merit basis. I urge the Congress to permit Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1952 to become effective. THE WHITE HOUSE, April 10, 1952. REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 4 OF 1952 HARRY S. TRUMAN. (Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, April 10. 1952, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20, 1949) UNITED STATES MARSHALS SECTION 1. Abolition of existing offices.-All offices of United States marshal for the judicial districts defined in title 28, United States Code, chapter 5, the four offices of United States marshal for the District of Alaska, the offices of United States marshal for Guam, the office of marshal of the District of the Canal Zone, and the office of marshal for the Virgin Islands are abolished. The Attorney General shall make such provisions as he shall deem necessary respecting the winding up of the affairs of the said marshals. SEC. 2. Establishment of new offices.-New offices, each of which shall have the title "United States Marshal," are established in the Department of Justice as follows: One for each of the said judicial districts, one for each of the four divisions of Alaska, one for Guam, one for the Canal Zone, and one for the Virgin Islands. Each United States marshal provided for in this section shall be appointed by the Attorney General under the classified civil service and shall receive compensation which shall be fixed from time to time pursuant to the classification laws as now or hereafter amended. SEC. 3. Transfer of functions.-There are transferred to the Attorney General the functions, if any, that have been vested by statute in United States marshals or in the other marshals referred to in section 1 hereof or in any of them since the effective date of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1950 (15 F. R. 3173). SEC. 4. Effective dates.—(a) With respect to offices having a specified statutory term of office the provisions of section 1 of this reorganization plan shall become effective as follows: (1) In the case of each office in which there is no incumbent on the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, or in which the incumbent is then holding over after the expiration of his term of office, the effective date shall be such date as the Attorney General shall specify, but in no event later than January 1, 1953; and (2) in the case of each office in which an incumbent is, on the date determined under the said section 6 (a), serving under an appointment for a specified term of office which has not expired, the effective date shall be the date on which the term of office expires, or any earlier date on which the office becomes vacant. (b) In the case of any office not having a specified statutory term of office, the effective date of the provisions of section 1 of this reorganization plan shall be such date as the Attorney General shall specify, but in no event later than January 1, 1953 (e) The provisions of section 2 of this reorganization plan shall with respect to each judicial district or other jurisdiction become effective concurrently with the taking effect of the provisions of section 1 hereof with respect to the same district or jurisdiction. (d) The provisions of section 3 of this reorganization plan shall become effective on the date determined under section 6 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949. SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, May 13, 1952. Staff Memorandum No. 82-2-28. On April 10, 1952, the President transmitted to the Congress Reorganization Flans Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of 1952, providing for reorganizations in the Post Office Department, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Justice. In submitting these plans, the President stated that "These plans have been prepared under the authority of the Reorganization Act of 1949." It will be the purpose of this memorandum to develop information relative to the legality of these plans, which may assist the committee in determining (1) whether the changes sought to be effected by means of these plans are reorganizations which are authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1949; and (2), if they are, whether the provisions of these plans conform to the requirements of that act. PURPOSES AND PROVISIONS OF THE PLANS In transmitting Reorganization Plans Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of 1952 to the Congress, the President stated: "The primary objective of these three reorganization plans is to make the executive branch of the Federal Government more efficient by permitting the Congress and the people to hold it more clearly accountable for the faithful execution of the laws. This objective is accomplished, in practical effect, by transferring from the President to the heads of the respective departments the function of appointment of numerous field officers who have heretofore been appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. "Reorganization Plan No. 2 vests in the Postmaster General the appointment of postmasters at first-, second-, and third-class post offices; under Reorganization Plan No. 3, appointment of officials in the Bureau of Customs will be made by the Secretary of the Treasury; and under the terms of Reorganization Plan No. 4 the Attorney General is authorized to appoint United States marshals" (H. Doc. 424, 82d Cong., 2d sess., p. 1). Detailed analyses of the three plans are contained in Staff Memorandums Nos. 82-2-29 (Post Office Department), 82-2-30 (Department of the Treasury), and 82-2-31 (Department of Justice). Plan No. 2 provides for the abolition of existing offices of postmaster at post offices of the first three classes, now appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation, and the establishment of a new office entitled "Postmaster," to be filled by appointment by the Postmaster General under civil service, as vacancies occur. Plan No. 3 provides for the abolition of the offices of collector of customs, comptroller of customs, surveyor of customs, and appraiser of merchandise, all of whom are now appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation, for a 4-year term (except the appraiser at New York, who serves for an indefinite term), and the assignment of their functions to whatever number of civil-service positions the Secretary of the Treasury may specify and which may be established by annual appropriation, including not more than 20 new supergrade offices (in addition to 5 already in existence), under the classified civil service. Provisions are also made for the abolition of certain statutory functions. Plan No. 4 provides for the abolition of existing offices of United States marshals, now appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation, for a 4-year term, and the establishment of new offices, entitled "United States Marshals," to be filled by appointment by the Attorney General under civil service, as vacancies occur. No actual reorganizations proposed in plans 2 and 4 An examination of the provisions of plans 2 and 4 reveals that they are almost identical and that they would have the sole effect of changing the present method of appointing postmasters and marshals, and the further effect of changing the term of marshals. It does not appear that the abolition of existing offices and the establishment of new offices, provided for by these plans, would have any actual effect upon the existing structure and organization of either the Post Office Department or the Department of Justice. This raises the question of whether the Reorganization Act of 1949 authorizes changes in the method of appointment of Presidential appointees, in the absence of any actual reorganization, or whether substantive legislation is required to accomplish this purpose. Further emphasis has been given to this question by statements and expressions of the President, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Postmaster General and former President Herbert Hoover, in connection with earlier reorganizations which would have changed the method of appointment of Presidential appointees. Since plan No. 3 involves some actual reorganizations, transfers, and abolitions, in addition to changes in method of appointment, this consideration may not apply to that plan. Changes in term of office Plans 3 and 4 would change the terms of office of customs officials and marshals, respectively, from the present 4-year term, provided by law, to indefinite tenure under civil service. This raises the further question of whether this proposed action constitutes a violation of the limitations imposed by section 5 (a) (5) of the Reorganization Act of 1949 which prohibits an increase, by reorganization plan, in the term of any office beyond that provided by law for such office. This phase will be treated further under the heading "Limitations on increasing the term of office." THE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1949 The Reorganization Act of 1949 authorizes the President to submit reorganization plans to the Congress in order to accomplish certain stated purposes. Section 2 of the act sets forth these purposes; section 3 lists the types of reorganizations which are authorized; section 4 specifies certain provisions which a reorganization plan may or must contain; and section 5 contains limitations with respect to the reorganizations which may be accomplished. Section 2 provides that the President may submit reorganization plans to accomplish the following broad purposes: (1) promotion of better execution of the laws, more efficient management of the executive branch of the Government, its agencies and functions, and the expeditious administration of public business; (2) reduction of expenditures and promotion of economy to the fullest extent consistent with the efficient operation of the Government; (3) increasing the efficiency of the operations of the Government to the fullest extent practicable; (4) grouping, coordinating and consolidating agencies and functions, as nearly as possible, according to major purposes; (5) reduction in the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions under a single head, and abolition of agencies and functions which may not be necessary for the efficient conduct of the Government; and (6) elimination of overlapping and duplication of effort. Section 3 of the Reorganization Act of 1949 authorizes the President to submit only those reorganization plans which would 99820-52——2 1. Transfer all or any part of any agency or of all or any part of its functions to the jurisdiction and control of any other agency; or 2. Abolish all or any part of the functions of any agency; 3. Consolidate or coordinate the whole or any part of any agency, or all or any of its functions, with all or any part of any other agency, or its functions; or 4. Consolidate or coordinate any part of any agency or of its functions with any other part of the same agency or any of its functions; or 5. Authorize any officer to delegate any of his functions; or 6. Abolish all or any part of any agency which agency or part does not have, or upon the taking effect of any reorganization plan, will not have any functions. The provisions of section 2 require the President to examine, from time to time, the organization of all agencies of Government in order to determine what changes are necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth therein. They serve as standards to guide the President in determining what reorganizations he will set forth in the plans he submits to the Congress, and which are authorized in section 3. (Report of the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, Reorganization Act of 1949, H. Rept. No. 23, 81st Cong., 1st sess., p. 8.) The operative provisions of the act are contained in section 3, and an examination of the provisions of this section, in the light of the history of this, and prior reorganization acts, reveals that the reorganizations contemplated are those which would involve (1) transfers of functions and/or agencies within the executive branch of the Government; (2) transfers or consolidations of functions and/or cffices, bureaus, divisions, and other subdivisions of the same agency; and (3) abolition of functions and/or agencies. In prior instances of reorganization, the abolitions, transfers and consolidations proposed were actually effected, and resulted in a change in the structure, organization and functions of agencies and individuals. In contrast, although Reorganization Plans 2 and 4 of 1952 provide for the abolition of existing offices of postmasters of the first three classes, and of marshals, and the establishment of new offices of postmaster and United States marshal, it does not appear that any reorganiaztion, transfer or abolition of either functions or agencies will actually occur. Futhermore, the abolition of agencies, provided for in subsection (6) of section 3, is authorized only in the case of agencies whose functions have been abolished or transferred, leaving them with no functions to perform after the effective date of a reorganization plan. It is, therefore, difficult to find, in the types of reorganizations provided for in section 3 of the act, any authority for action which does nothing but change the method of appointment of Presidential appointees. In this connection, the American Law Section of the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress was requested by the committee to make an examination of all of the reorganization plans submitted by the President since the Reoraginzation Act of 1932, in order to determine whether any of these had proposed only the action contemplated by plans 2 and 4 of 1952. In a letter dated April 24, 1952, addressed to this committee, Mr. Hugh P. Price wrote: “We have examined all reorganization plans submitted under the acts of 1932, 1933, 1939, 1945, and 1949 without finding any instance in which the entire plan comprised merely a change in the method of appointment of personnel from appointment by the President with Senate confirmation to appointment by the head of a department or agency.” Apparently recognizing that there was considerable doubt as to whether the action proposed was, in fact, authorized by the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, the draftsmen of these plans provided for the abolishment of existing offices and the establishment of what is characterized as "new offices," but which, to all intents and purposes, is actually the establishment of the same office. This raises the question of whether or not the proposal for a change in the method of appointment of postmasters was merely couched in the language of a reorganization in order to bring it under the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949. |