House leader seeks to boost White House authority to reorganize agencies

As President Bush prepares for a second term, his Republican allies on the House Government Reform Committee are considering legislation bolstering executive powers.

Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., wants to expedite the process for confirming presidential appointees and reinstate executive reorganization authority, which was granted intermittently to presidents between 1932 and 1984. That would allow the president to propose changes in the structure of government agencies, then submit them to Congress for approval on an up-or-down vote. The authority would minimize the turf wars that inevitably crop up when new agencies such as the Homeland Security Department are created, a Davis spokesman said.

Although Congress has not granted the power in two decades, presidents have used it to implement sweeping organizational changes, including creating OMB and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., opposes the plan. A Waxman spokeswoman said handing over the authority would be a serious abdication of congressional powers.

The executive branch long has complained about the ordeal appointees face in seeking Senate confirmation, a process that has become slower over the years, Davis' spokesman said. Some of Bush's nearly 500 nominees waited 14 months before Senate confirmation.

Davis would like to reduce the number of jobs needing Senate approval and simplify financial disclosure forms. Waxman's spokeswoman said he has concerns about overhauling the process and worries that the proposal may include provisions similar to those in a recent bill making it more difficult for Congress to discern how much money a nominee has invested and where. She said Waxman is skeptical that the forms are the main reason for the cumbersome confirmation process and would like to find other ways to streamline it.

Other legislation on the chairman's wish list is more likely to win bipartisan support. Davis wants to boost salaries of Border Patrol and other agents in areas such as New York and California, where federal law enforcement officers often leave to take higher paying jobs with local and state departments.

He also would like to make the process federal agencies use to order supplies more efficient, a proposal which his spokesman said "should be a slam dunk."

In its oversight capacity, the committee plans to hold a hearing on the flu vaccine shortage next week and to examine the FDA's process for approving Vioxx and other drugs now found to be potentially harmful.