TAKING EFFECT OF REORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 6. (a) Except as may be otherwise provided pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the provisions of the reorganization plan shall take effect upon the expiration of the first period of sixty calendar days, of continuous session of the Congress, following the date on which the plan is transmitted to it; but only if, between the date of transmittal and the expiration of such sixty-day period, there has not been passed by either of the two Houses, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the authorized membership of that House, a resolution stating in substance that that House does not favor the reorganization plan.

(b) For the purposes of subsection (a)—

(1) continuity of session shall be considered as broken only by an adjournment of the Congress sine die; but

(2) in the computation of the sixty-day period there shall be excluded the days on which either House is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain.

(c) Any provision of the plan may, under provisions contained in the plan, be made operative at a time later than the date on which the plan shall otherwise take effect.

DEFINITION OF "AGENCY"

SEC. 7. When used in this Act, the term "agency" means any executive department, commission, council, independent establishment, Government corporation, board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment, in the executive branch of the Government, and means also any and all parts of the municipal government of the District of Columbia except the courts thereof. Such term does not include the Comptroller General of the United States or the General Accounting Office, which are a part of the legislative branch of the Government.

MATTERS DEEMED TO BE REORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 8. For the purposes of this Act the term "reorganization" means any transfer, consolidation, coordination, authorization, or abolition, referred to in section 3.

SAVING PROVISIONS

SEC. 9. (a) (1) Any statute enacted, and any regulation or other action made, prescribed, issued, granted, or performed in respect of or by any agency or function affected by a reorganization under the provisions of this Act, before the effective date of such reorganization, shall, except to the extent rescinded, modified, superseded, or made inapplicable by or under authority of law or by the abolition of a function, have the same effect as if such reorganization had not been made; but where any such statute, regulation, or other action has vested the function in the agency from which it is removed under the plan, such function shall, insofar as it is to be exercised after the plan becomes effective, be considered as vested in the agency under which the function is placed by the plan.

(2) As used in paragraph (1) of this subsection the term "regulation or other action" means any regulation, rule, order, policy, determination, directive, authorization, permit, privilege, requirement, designation, or other action.

(b) No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against the head of any agency or other officer of the United States, in his official capacity or in relation to the discharge of his official duties, shall abate by reason of the taking effect of any reorganization plan under the provisions of this Act, but the court may, on motion or supplemental petition filed at any time within twelve months after such reorganization plan takes effect, showing a necessity for a survival of such suit, action, or other proceeding to obtain a settlement of the questions involved, allow the same to be maintained by or against the successor of such head or officer under the reorganization effected by such plan or, if there be no such successor, against such agency or officer as the President shall designate.

UNEXPENDED APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 10. The appropriations or portions of appropriations unexpended by reason of the operation of this Act shall not be used for any purpose, but shall be impounded and returned to the Treasury.

PRINTING OF REORGANIZATION PLANS

SEC. 11. Each reorganization plan which shall take effect shall be printed in the Statutes at Large in the same volume as the public laws, and shall be printed in the Federal Register.

TITLE II

SEC. 201. The following sections of this title are enacted by the Congress: (a) As an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in such House in the case of resolutions (as defined in section 202); and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

(b) With full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change such rules (so far as relating to the procedure in such House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of such House. SEC. 202. As used in this title, the term "resolution" means only a resolution of either of the two Houses of Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: "That the does not favor the reorganization plan numbered transmitted to Congress by the President on 19-. the first blank space therein being filled with the name of the resolving House and the other blank spaces therein being appropriately filled; and does not include a resolution which specifies more than one reorganization plan.

SEC. 203. A resolution with respect to a reorganization plan shall be referred to a committee (and all resolutions with respect to the same plan shall be referred to the same committee) by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.

SEC. 204. (a) If the committee to which has been referred a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan has not reported it before the expiration of ten calendar days after its introduction, it shall then (but not before) be in order to move either to discharge the committee from further consideration of such resolution, or to discharge the committee from further consideration of any other resolution with respect to such reorganization plan which has been referred to the committee.

(b) Such motion may be made only by a person favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported a resolution with respect to the same reorganization plan), and debate thereon shall be limited to not to exceed one hour, to be equally divided between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. No amendment to such motion shall be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which such motion is agreed to or disagreed to.

(c) If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed to, such motion may not be renewed, nor may another motion to discharge the committee be made with respect to any other resolution with respect to the same reorganization plan. SEC. 205. (a) When the committee has reported, or has been discharged from further consideration of, a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan, it shall at any time thereafter be in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the consideration of such resolution. Such motion shall be highly privileged and shall not be debatable. No amendment to such motion shall be in order and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which such motion is agreed to or disagreed to.

No

(b) Debate on the resolution shall be limited to not to exceed ten hours, which shall be equally divided between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. amendment to, or motion to recommit, the resolution shall be in order, and it shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to.

SEC. 206. (a) All motions to postpone, made with respect to the discharge from committee, or the consideration of, a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan, and all motions to proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided without debate.

(b) All appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, to the procedure relating to a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan shall be decided without debate.

Approved June 20, 1949.

9289557- -2

[H. Doc. No. 145, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXTENDING THE REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED To the Congress of the United States:

The Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, under which the President is authorized to prepare and transmit to the Congress plans for the reorganization of executive agencies, states that no provision contained in a reorganization plan shall take effect unless the plan is transmitted to the Congress before June 1, 1957. I recommend that the Congress enact legislation to extend the period for transmitting reorganization plans for 4 years.

The reorganization plan procedure authorized by the Reorganization Act is an essential means by which the President and the Congress can cooperate to assure the timely promotion of better organization and sound management of the executive branch of the Government. Under the act the President may transmit to the Congress reorganization plans which become effective after 60 days of congressional session unless disapproved by a majority of the membership of one of the Houses of the Congress. This method enables the President, who has direct responsibility for effective administration, to initiate improvements in organization, subject to review by the Congress.

Extensive accomplishments have been achieved under the Reorganization Acts of 1939 and 1945 and under the present statute, the Reorganization Act of 1949. The time for transmitting plans under the latter has been twice extended by the Congress: in 1953 and 1955,

The current act was adopted following the strong endorsement of the first Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government in 1949, which stated:

"This authority is necessary if the machinery of government is to be made adaptable to the ever-changing requirements of administration and if efficiency is to become a continuing rather than a sporadic concern of the Federal Government."

In December 1954, the second Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government unanimously recommended further extension of the act.

Accordingly, I urge the Congress to continue the practical arrangements contained in the Reorganization Act by which the Congress and the President can carry forward their cooperative endeavors to provide the best possible management of the public business.

The WHITE HOUSE, April 1, 1957.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES,

Hon. WILLIAM L. DAWSON,

Chairman, Committee on Government Operations,

House of Representatives.

Washington, April 29, 1957.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your letter dated April 11, 1957, acknolwedged April 15, enclosing a copy of H. R. 6711, 85th Congress, 1st session, and requesting our comments on this proposed legislation.

H. R. 6711 would amend the Reorganization Act of 1949 by extending the termination date thereof to June 1, 1961.

The Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, authorizes the President of the United States, until June 1, 1957, to transmit proposed plans to the Congress for the transfer, abolition, consolidation, or coordination, of the functions of the executive branch of the Government, and provides that such plans shall take effect upon the expiration of 60 calendar days of continuous session of the Congress if, between the date of transmittal and the expiration of such period, neither of the Houses of Congress has, by a majority vote of the authorized membership, passed a resolution stating that that House does not favor the reorganization plan. The position of the General Accounting Office with respect to continuation or renewal of the authority granted under this act is adequately set out at page 24 of the hearings on S. 526, 81st Congress, 1st session, wherein the then Comptroller General indicated that he favored such a delegation of authority but believed it should be limited to the remaining period of the term of office of the President, in order that the Congress might periodically examine the results achieved and any necessary revisions of the law.

Failure to extend the provisions of the Reorganization Act for some definite period after the present expiration date may reasonably be expected to result in the submission of the same reorganization plans, in the form of proposed legislation, which would be submitted for the consideration of Congress under an extension of the authority granted by the act. Accordingly, it would appear that the basic procedural differences to be expected from a failure to extend the present act would be to afford the Congress an unlimited time to consider the merits of plans submitted, rather than the 60-day period provided by the act, and to substitute an affirmative approval of such plans by a quorum majority of both Houses of Congress for the present procedure whereby a proposed plan is approved by failure of a majority of the authorized membership of either House to disapprove such plan within 60 days after transmittal to the Congress.

Under the circumstances, and in view of the fact that we have no specific information indicating that the results achieved under existing law have been unsatisfactory or that a need for revision exists, we see no objection to an extension of the Reorganization Act of 1949 for such definite period as Congress deems appropriate.

Sincerely yours,

JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT,

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D. C., April 18, 1957.

Hon. WILLIAM L. DAWSON,

Chairman, Committee on Government Operations,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your letter of April 11, 1957, requesting a report and comment on H. R. 6711, a bill to amend the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended.

The Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, under which the President is authorized to prepare and transmit to the Congress plans for the reorganization of executive agencies, states in subsection 5 (b) that "No provision contained in a reorganization plan shall take effect unless the plan is transmitted to the Congress before June 1, 1957." H. R. 6711 would amend that subsection by inserting a new date, June 1, 1961.

In a special message to the Congress on April 1, 1957, the President stated: "The reorganization plan procedure authorized by the Reorganization Act is an essential means by which the President and the Congress can cooperate to assure the timely promotion of better organization and sound management of the executive branch of the Government."

In conclusion, he stated:

"Accordingly, I urge the Congress to continue the practical arrangement contained in the Reorganization Act by which the Congress and the President can carry forward their cooperative endeavors to provide the best possible management of the public business.'

It is my view that the reorganization plan approach to better organization of the Government, authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1949, has proved its effectiveness in past years. I strongly urge that the Congress act to continue the availability to the President and the Congress of that practical means for achieving organizational improvement.

us.

Sincerely yours,

PERCIVAL F. BRUNDAGE, Director.

Mr. McCORMACK. Mr. Brundage, we are happy to have you with

STATEMENT OF PERCIVAL F. BRUNDAGE, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET

Mr. BRUNDAGE. It is good to be here, Mr. Chairman.

I welcome this opportunity to discuss with your committee the need for enacting legislation, such as H. R. 6711, a bill to amend the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended.

The Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, authorizes the President to prepare and transmit to the Congress plans for the reorganization of executive agencies. However, subsection 5 (b) states that

No provision contained in a reorganization plan shall take effect unless the plan is transmitted to the Congress before June 1, 1957.

Mr. McCORMACK. Do you know of any plans proposed between now and June 1?

Mr. BRUNDAGE. Plan No. 1 of 1957 is pending before the Congress. I know of none coming up before June 1; no.

Mr. McCORMACK. Do you mean pending in the executive branch? Mr. BRUNDAGE. That is right.

Mr. McCORMACK. Can you give us any information as to that now, without violating any confidence?

Mr. BRUNDAGE. I know of none that will be submitted before June 1. Mr. McCORMACK. I mean what is pending.

Mr. BRUNDAGE. We are exploring a number of matters. The Committee on Government Organization is meeting frequently and considering a number of them, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MCCORMACK. All right, Mr. Brundage.

Mr. BRUNDAGE. Accordingly, unless legislation, such as H. R. 6711, is enacted, the President and the Congress will no longer be able to utilize the reorganization-plan procedure which has proved its effectiveness in achieving timely improvements in the organization of the executive branch.

On April 1, 1957, the President by special message recommended that the Congress enact legislation to extend the period for transmitting reorganization plans for 4 years. In that message, he stated:

Accordingly, I urge the Congress to continue the practical arrangements contained in the Reorganization Act by which the Congress and the President can carry forward their cooperative endeavors to provide the best possible management of the public business.

H. R. 6711 will carry out the President's recommendation, and I commend it to your favorable consideration.

The Reorganization Act authorizes a simplified procedure for improving the structure and management of the executive branch. Under that procedure, a reorganization plan providing for the reorganization of executive agencies and transmitted to the Congress by the President takes effect after 60 calendar days of congressional session, unless in that time it is disapproved by the adoption of a resolution in either House of the Congress by the vote of a majority of the authorized membership of that House. This procedure enables the President, as the responsible head of the executive branch, to initiate improvements in executive organization, and it reserves to the Congress effective powers of review and disapproval.

The Reorganization Act contains two titles. Title I sets forth the responsibility of the President for preparing the reorganization plans; states certain requirements and limitations controlling the contents of the plans; and provides the procedure for their taking effect. Title II consists entirely of the special rules of the Congress governing the expeditious handling of reorganization plans before the Congress. Section 2 of the act, entitled "Need for Reorganization," is very important. Subsection (a) states the six purposes of reorganization plans: