Federal Works Agency: Difference between revisions

During the [[Great Depression]], the federal government created a large number of agencies whose mission was to construct public works (such as parks, water treatment systems, roads, and buildings), employ the unemployed to construct such works, and to issue loans and grants to regional authorities, states, counties, and localities for the construction of public works.  [[File:Eltingville si plaque jeh.JPG|thumb|left|1939 FWA/PWA plaque celebrating the [[Staten Island Railway|Staten Island Rapid Transit]] ([[New York City]]) grade-elimination project completion.]] Many influential members of Congress, [[political science|political scientists]], and [[public administration|public administration experts]] had strongly criticized the proliferation of executive branch agencies as inefficient.<ref name="Calabresi">Calabresi, Steven G. and Yoo, Christopher S. ''The Unitary Executive: Presidential Power from Washington to Bush.'' New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-300-12126-1}}</ref> On April 3, 1939, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] signed into law the Reorganization Act of 1939, which for two years gave him the authority (under certain limitations) to reorganize existing departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions and committees of the federal government to achieve efficiency and economy.<ref>Belair, Jr., Felix. "Roosevelt Signs Reorganizing Bill." ''New York Times.'' April 4, 1939.</ref>  Pursuant to the Act, President Roosevelt issued Reorganization Plan No. 1 (promulgated April 25, 1939; effective July 1, 1939).<ref name="Plan1">[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15748 "Message to Congress on the Reorganization Act." April 25, 1939. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. ''The American Presidency Project.'' Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database).]</ref><ref name="Sundquist">Sundquist, James L. ''The Decline and Resurgence of Congress.'' Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1981. {{ISBN|0-8157-8223-3}}</ref>

Significant consolidation occurred in the post-war period, which finally led to the dismantling of the FWA. DDPW and DWPS were merged by administrative order into a new Bureau of Community Facilities (BCF) on January 1, 1945.<ref name="HUDRecords" /> In 1947, President [[Harry S. Truman]] appointed the [[Hoover Commission|First Hoover Commission]] to study the functions of the federal government and recommend administrative and managerial changes.<ref>Arnold, Peri E. "The First Hoover Commission and the Managerial Presidency." ''Journal of Politics.'' 38:1 (February 1976).</ref> Although the First Hoover Commission recommended merging the FWA into a new Department of Public Works (which would oversee all non-military federal construction), opposition from special interests and several federal agencies (such as the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]]) led Truman to recommend abolishing the FWA, transferring some functions to other agencies, and creating a new "housekeeping" agency to manage government construction needs and federally owned buildings.<ref name="Smith" /> On June 30, 1949, Congress passed the [[Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949|Federal Property and Administrative Services Act]] (63 Stat. 377), which abolished the FWA and transferred its few remaining functions to the newly created [[General Services Administration]].<ref name="Smith" />