Department of Commerce: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name    = United States Department of Commerce

}}

==History==

{{Update|section|date=March 2018}}

On January 13, 2012, President [[Barack Obama]] announced his intentions to ask the United States Congress for the power to close the department and replace it with a new cabinet-level agency focused on trade and exports. The new agency would include the [[Office of the United States Trade Representative]], currently part of the [[Executive Office of the President of the United States|Executive Office of the President]], as well as the [[Export-Import Bank of the United States]], the [[Overseas Private Investment Corporation]], the [[United States Trade and Development Agency]], and the [[Small Business Administration]], which are all currently [[Independent agencies of the United States government|independent agencies]]. The Obama administration projected that the reorganization would save $3 billion and would help the administration's goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news|last=MacInnis|first=Laura|title=Obama wants export agency, closing of Commerce Department|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-reform-idUSTRE80C0SA20120113|access-date=January 19, 2012|newspaper=Reuters|date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202002343/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-reform-idUSTRE80C0SA20120113 |archive-date= Feb 2, 2016 }}</ref> The new agency would be organized around four "pillars": a technology and innovation office including the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] and the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]]; a statistical division including the [[United States Census Bureau]] and other data-collection agencies currently in the Commerce Department, and also the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] which would be transferred from the Department of Labor; a trade and investment policy office; and a small business development office. The [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) would be transferred from the Department of Commerce into the Department of the Interior.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mervis|first=Jeffrey|title=What Would Wiping Out the Commerce Department Mean for Science?|url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/what-would-wiping-out-the-commerce.html|work=ScienceInsider|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=January 19, 2012|date=January 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129144352/http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/what-would-wiping-out-the-commerce.html |archive-date= Jan 29, 2012 }}</ref> Later that year, shortly before the 2012 presidential election, Obama invoked the idea of a "secretary of business" in reference to the plan.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schroeder|first=Peter|title=Obama floats plan for a 'secretary of Business' if he wins second term|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/132971-obama-floats-plan-for-a-secretary-of-business-if-he-wins-second-term/|newspaper=The Hill|access-date=May 23, 2014|date=October 29, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524024443/http://thehill.com/policy/finance/264587-obama-calls-for-a-secretary-of-business |archive-date= May 24, 2014 }}</ref> The reorganization was part of a larger proposal which would grant the president the authority to propose mergers of federal agencies, which would then be subject to an up-or-down Congressional vote. This ability had existed from the Great Depression until the Reagan presidency, when Congress rescinded the authority.<ref>{{cite news|last=Landler|first=Mark|title=Obama Bid to Cut the Government Tests Congress|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/us/politics/obama-to-ask-congress-for-power-to-merge-agencies.html|access-date=January 19, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 14, 2012|author2=Lowrey, Annie|page=A1 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>