# Reorganization Act of 1977

The Reorganization Act of 1977, originally intended to be a further series of amendments to extend the Act of 1949, ultimately materialized as its own statute. Carter used his authority under the act to create the Wikipedia:Office of Personnel Management, the Wikipedia:Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Wikipedia:Federal Labor Relations Authority. A plan to create a Department of Natural Resources was ultimately never enacted after it became clear the proposal was likely to be disapproved by Congress. The proposed new department would have renamed the Department of the Interior and transferred into it the Wikipedia:U.S. Forest Service from the Wikipedia:U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Note: This is the original legislation as it was initially enacted. Any subsequent amendments hosted on Wikisource may be listed using What Links Here.
An Act To reestablish the period within which the President may transmit to the Congress plans for the reorganization of agencies of the executive branch of the Government, and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the ``Reorganization Act of 1977´´
Sec. 2. Chapter 9 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

### ``Chapter 9.—EXECUTIVE REORGANIZATION

``Sec.
* ``901. Purpose.
* ``902. Definitions.
* ``903. Reorganization plans.
* ``904. Additional contents of reorganization plan.
* ``905. Limitations on powers.
* ``906. Effective date and publication of reorganization plans.
* ``907. Effect on other laws, pending legal proceedings, and unexpended appropriations.
* ``908. Rules of Senate and House of Representatives on reorganization plans.
* ``909. Terms of resolution.
* ``910. Introduction and reference of resolution.
* ``911. Discharge of committee considering resolution.
* ``912. Procedure after report or discharge of committee; debate; vote on final disapproval.

##### ``§ 901. Purpose

    ``(a) The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States—
       ``(1) to promote the better execution of the laws, the more effective management of the executive branch and of its agencies and functions, and the expeditious administration of the public business;
       ``(2) to reduce expenditures and promote economy to the fullest extent consistent with the efficient operation of the Government;
       ``(3) to increase the efficiency of the operations of the Government to the fullest extent practicable;
       ``(4) to group, coordinate, and consolidate agencies and functions of the Government, as nearly as may be, according to major purposes;
       ``(5) to reduce the number of agencies by consolidating those having similar functions under a single head, and to abolish such agencies or functions thereof as may not be necessary for the efficient conduct of the Government; and
       ``(6) to eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.
    ``(b) Congress declares that the public interest demands the carrying out of the purposes of subsection (a) of this section and that the purposes may be accomplished in great measure by proceeding under this chapter, and can be accomplished more speedily thereby than by the enactment of specific legislation.
    ``(c) It is the intent of Congress that the President should provide appropriate means for broad citizen advice and participation in restructuring and reorganizing the executive branch.
    ``(d) The President shall from time to time examine the organization of all agencies and shall determine what changes in such organization are necessary to cany out any policy set forth in subsection (a) of this section.

##### ``§ 902. Definitions

    ``For the purpose of this chapter—
       ``(1) `agency´ means—
          ``(A) an Executive agency or pait thereof; and
          ``(B) an office or officer in the executive branch; but does not include the (General Accounting Office or the Comptroller General of the United States;
       ``(2) `reorganization´ means a transfer, consolidation, coordination, authorization, or abolition, referred to in section 903 of this title; and
       ``(3) `officer´ is not limited by section 2104 of this title.

#### ``§ 903. Reorganization plans

    ``(a) Whenever the President, after investigation, finds that changes in the organization of agencies are necessary to carry out any policy set forth in section 901(a) of this title, he shall prepare a reorganization plan specifying the reorganizations he finds are necessary. Any plan may provide for—
       ``(1) the transfer of the whole or a part of an agency, or of the whole or a part of the functions thereof, to the jurisdiction and control of another agency;
       ``(2) the abolition of all or a part of the functions of an agency, except that no enforcement function or statutory program shall be abolished by the plan;
       ``(3) the consolidation or coordination of the whole or a part of an agency, or of the whole or a part of the functions thereof, with the whole or a part of another agency or the functions thereof;
       ``(4) the consolidation or coordination of a part of an agency or the functions thereof with another part of the same agency or the functions thereof;
       ``(5) the authorization of an officer to delegate any of his functions; or
       ``(6) the abolition of the whole or a part of an agency which agency or part does not have, or on the taking effect of the reorganization plan will not have, any functions.
    The President shall transmit the plan (bearing an identification number) to the Congress together with a declaration that, with respect to each reorganization included in the plan, he has found that the reorganization is necessary to carry out any policy set forth in section 901(a) of this title.
    ``(b) The President shall have a reorganization plan delivered to both Houses on the same day and to each House while it is in session, except that no more than three plans may be pending before the Congress at one time. In his message transmitting a reorganization plan, the President shall specify with respect to each abolition of a function included in the plan the statutory authority for the exercise of the function. The message shall also estimate any reduction or increase in expenditures (itemized so far as practicable), and describe any improvements in management, delivery of Federal services, execution of the laws, and increases in efficiency of Government operations, which it is expected will be realized as a result of the reorganizations included in the plan.
    ``"(c) Any time during the period of thirty calendar days of continuous session of Congress after the date on which the plan is transmitted to it, but before any resolution described in section 909 has been ordered reported in either House, the President may make amendments or modifications to the plan, consistent with sections 903-905 of this title, which modifications or revisions shall thereafter be treated as a part of the reorganization plan originally transmitted and shall not affect in any way the time limits otherwise provided for in this chapter. The President may withdraw the plan any time prior to the conclusion of sixty calendar days of continuous session of Congress following the date on which the plan is submitted to Congress.

#### ``§ 904. Additional contents of reorganization plan

    ``A reorganization plan transmitted by the President under section 903 of this title—
       ``(1) may change, in such cases as the President considers necessary, the name of an agency affected by a reorganization and the title of its head, and shall designate the name of an agency resulting from a reorganization and the title of its head;
       ``(2) may provide for the appointment and pay of the head and one or more officers of any agency (including an agency resulting from a consolidation or other type of reorganization) if the President finds, and in his message transmitting the plan declares, that by reason of a reorganization made by the plan the provisions are necessary;
       ``(3) shall provide for the transfer or other disposition of the records, property, and personnel affected by a reorganization;
       ``(4) shall provide for the transfer of such unexpended balances of appropriations, and of other funds, available for use in connection with a function or agency affected by a reorganization, as the President considers necessary by reason of the reorganization for use in connection with the functions affected by the reorganization, or for the use of the agency which shall have the functions after the reorganization plan is effective; and
       ``(5) shall provide for terminating the affairs of an agency abolished.
    A reorganization plan transmitted by the President containing provisions authorized by paragraph (2) of this section may provide that the head of an agency be an individual or a commission or board with more than one member. In the case of an appointment of the head of such an agency, the term of office may not be fixed at more than four years, the pay may not be at a rate in excess of that found by the President to be applicable to comparable officers in the executive branch, and if the appointment is not to a position in the competitive service, it shall be by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Any reorganization plan transmitted by the President containing provisions required by paragraph (4) of this section shall provide for the transfer of unexpended balances only if such balances are used for the purposes for which the appropriation was originally made.

#### ``§ 905. Limitations on powers

    ``(a) A reorganization plan may not provide for, and a reorganization under this chapter may not have the effect of—
       ``(1) creating a new executive department, abolishing or transferring an executive department or independent regulatory agency, or all the functions thereof, or consolidating two or more executive departments or two or more independent regulatory agencies, or all the functions thereof;
       ``(2) continuing an agency beyond the period authorized by law for its existence or beyond the time when it would have terminated if the reorganization had not been made;
       ``(3) continuing a function beyond the period authorized by law for its exercise or beyond the time when it would have terminated if the reorganization had not been made;
       ``(4) authorizing an agency to exercise a function which is not expressly authorized by law at the time the plan is transmitted to Congress;
       ``(5) increasing the term of an office beyond that provided by law for the office; or
       ``(6) dealing with more than one logically consistent subject matter.
    ``(b) A provision contained in a reorganization plan may take effect only if the plan is transmitted to Congress within three years of the date of enactment of the Reorganization Act of 1977.

#### ``§ 906. Effective date and publication of reorganization plans

    ``(a) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (c) of this section, a reorganization plan is effective at the end of the first period of sixty calendar days of continuous session of Congress after the date on which the plan is transmitted to it unless, between the date of transmittal and the end of the sixty-day period, either House passes a resolution stating in substance that the House does not favor the reorganization plan.
    ``(b) For the purpose of this chapter—
       ``(1) continuity of session is broken only by an adjournment of Congress sine die; and
       ``(2) the days on which either House is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain are excluded in the computation of any period of time in which Congress is in continuous session.
    ``(c) Under provisions contained in a reorganization plan, any provision thereof may be effective at a time later than the date on which the plan otherwise is effective or, if both Houses of Congress have defeated a resolution of disapproval, may be effective at a time earlier than the expiration of the sixty-day period required by subsection (a).
    ``(d) A reorganization plan which is effective shall be printed (1) in the Statutes at Large in the same volume as the public laws and (2) in the Federal Register.

#### ``§ 907. Effect on other laws, pending legal proceedings, and unexpended appropriations

    ``(a) A statute enacted, and a regulation or other action made, prescribed, issued, granted, or performed in respect of or by an agency or function affected by a reorganization under this chapter, before the effective date of the reorganization, has, except to the extent rescinded, modified, superseded, or made inapplicable by or under authority of law or by the abolition of a function, the same effect as if the reorganization had not been made. However, if the statute, regulation, or other action has vested the functions in the agency from which it is removed under the reorganization plan, the function, insofar as it is to be exercised after the plan becomes effective, shall be deemed as vested in the agency under which the function is placed by the plan.
    ``(b) For the purpose of subsection (a) of this section, `regulation or other action´ means a regulation, rule, order, policy, determination, directive, authorization, permit, privilege, requirement, designation, or other action.
    ``(c) A suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against the head of an agency or other officer of the United States, in his official capacity or in relation to the discharge of his official duties, does not abate by reason of the taking effect of a reorganization plan under this chapter. On motion or supplemental petition filed at any time within twelve months after the reorganization plan takes effect, showing a necessity for a survival of the suit, action, or other proceeding to obtain a settlement of the questions involved, the court may allow the suit, action, or other proceeding to be maintained by or against the successor of the head or officer under the reorganization effected by the plan or, if there is no successor, against such agency or officer as the President designates.
    ``(d) The appropriations or portions of appropriations unexpended by reason of the operation of the chapter may not be used for any purpose, but shall revert to the Treasury.

#### ``§ 908. Rules of Senate and House of Representatives on reorganization plans

    ``Sections 909 through 912 of this title are enacted by Congress—
       ``(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such they are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of resolutions described by section 909 of this title; and they supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
       ``(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.

#### ``§ 909. Terms of resolution

    ``For the purpose of sections 908 through 912 of this title, `resolution´ means only a resolution of either House of Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: `That the does not favor the reorganization plan numbered transmitted to the Congress by the President on, 19 .´, and includes such modifications and revisions as are submitted by the President under section 903(c) of this chapter. The blank spaces therein are to be filled appropriately. The term does not include a resolution which specifies more than one reorganization plan.

#### ``§ 910. Introduction and reference of resolution

    ``(a) No later than the first day of session following the day on which a reorganization plan is transmitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate under section 903, a resolution, as defined in section 909, shall be introduced (by request) in the House by the chairman of the Government Operations Committee of the House, or by a Member or Members of the House designated by such chairman; and shall be introduced (by request) in the Senate by the chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Senate, or by a Member or Members of the Senate designated by such chairman.
    ``(b) A resolution with respect to a reorganization plan shall be referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Operations of the House (and all resolutions with respect to the same plan shall be referred to the same committee) by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be. The committee shall make its recommendations to the House of Representatives or the Senate, respectively, within 45 calendar days of continuous session of Congress following the date of such resolution's introduction.

#### ``§ 911. Discharge of committee considering resolution

    ``If the committee to which is referred a resolution introduced pursuant to subsection (a) of section 910 (or, in the absence of such a resolution, the first resolution introduced with respect to the same reorganization plan) has not reported such resolution or identical resolution at the end of 45 calendar days of continuous session of Congress after its introduction, such committee shall be deemed to be discharged from further consideration of such resolution and such resolution shall be placed on the appropriate calendar of the House involved.

#### ``§ 912. Procedure after report or discharge of committee; debate; vote on final disapproval

    ``(a) When the committee has reported, or has been deemed to be discharged (under section 911) from further consideration of, a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan, it is at any time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) for any Member of the respective House to move to proceed to the consideration of the resolution. The motion is highly privileged and is not debatable. The motion shall not be subject to amendment, or to a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the resolution is agreed to, the resolution shall remain the unfinished business of the respective House until disposed of.
    ``(b) Debate on the resolution, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than ten hours, which shall be divided equally between individuals favoring individuals opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business, or a motion to recommit the resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order.
    ``(c) Immediately following the conclusion of the debate on the resolution with respect to a reorganization plan, and a single quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the appropriate House, the vote on final approval of the resolution shall occur.
    ``(d) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be. to the procedure relating to a resolution with respect to a reorganization plan shall be decided without debate.´´.
Approved April 6, 1977.

## Legislative History

* S. 626
   * HOUSE REPORTS:
   ** No. 95-105 accompanying H.R. 5045 (Comm. on Government Operations).
   * SENATE REPORTS:
   ** No. 95-32 (Comm. on Government Affairs).
   * CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 123 (1977):
   ** Mar. 3, Considered and passed Senate.
   ** Mar. 29, Considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 5045.
   ** Mar. 31. Senate concurred in House amendments.
   * WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 13, No. 15:
   ** Apr. 6, Presidential statement.
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