Creating a Mega-Department

A group of 15 Senate Republicans is pushing the idea of creating a super-agency that would merge the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection agency, Politico reports.

The new department would eliminate duplicative efforts at Energy and EPA, saving $3 billion in fiscal 2012 alone, according to Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. It would include an undersecretary dedicated to overseeing nuclear weapons and nonproliferation programs, a key function at DOE.

While there may be some degree of duplication between these two agencies, they also have very different missions and cultures, so it would be very interesting to see how they would try to work together.

(Hat tip: John Kamensky, via Twitter)