Perhaps to their relief, federal employees didn’t hear much that would directly affect them in tonight’s State of the Union speech.
Last year, after all, President Obama used the prime-time address to call for a government reorganization and a five-year freeze on domestic discretionary spending, besides reminding Congress that he had already imposed a two-year freeze on base federal salaries.
This year? Hardly a mention of overarching management and budget initiatives. The closest that Obama came was almost an hour into the speech when he brought up his recent bid to get “fast-track” authority from Congress to restructure and consolidate federal agencies.
“The executive branch also needs to change,” Obama said. “Too often, it’s inefficient, outdated and remote. That’s why I’ve asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.”
So far, however, the White House has not said when it will send any such legislation to the Hill.
