Barack Obama to ask Congress for powers to shrink US government

http://www.guardian.co.uk

Barack Obama to ask Congress for powers to shrink US government

President wants to merge six trade and commerce agencies as he looks to improve efficiency in federal governmentPresident Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and his first idea is merging six sprawling trade and commerce agencies, a senior administration official told the Associated Press. In an election year and a political atmosphere of tighter spending, Obama’s motivation is about improving a giant bureaucracy – but that’s hardly all of it.