Evening star., 1938-03-29
HOUSE DEMOCRATS
BACK OWN PLAN
FOR RE0RCAN|z|NG
Committee to Insist on
Substituting It for
Senate Bill.
Meeting CALLED TO FIX
Definite PROGRAM
Bankhead Hopes Consideration
Can Be Given Measure by
Thursday or Friday.

BACKGROUND
Major test of administration
strength in present session OF Con-
gress has inpolued bill to reuse line
up of Federal departments and
agencies. Plan is one OF tavorite re-
form ideas OF White House ad-
Disers. but has been subjected to
bitter criticism OF foes as giving
President dictatorial powers.
Democratic members of the House
Reorganization Committee decided to-
day to insist on substitution of four
measures already approved by the
committee for the administration s
Government reorganization bill passed
by the Senate yesterday
The decision was reached at an ex-
ecutive conference of the House group
majority after Chairman O'Connor of
the Rules Committee issued a state
ment declaring he believed the Senate
bill should be left to peacefully slum-
ber in some cobwebbed pigeonhole.
The reorganization issue was thrown
back into the hands of the special
House committee and headed for fur
ther battle in the House when oppo.
nents OF the administration program
blocked a move in the Senate yester-
day TO substitute the Senate bill for
one OF the measures already passed
oy the House. This procedure would
have sent the controversy into con-
ference between the two branches of
Congress Immediately.
Intentions Announced.
Chairman Cochran of the Rcorgani-
zation Committee announced inten-
tions of the groups Democratic ma
Jority on the floor of the House after
the conference today, emphasizing
.neir decision to maintain our posi-
ton, as exemplified in the four bills
which have been reported"
In general. the four House bills
which would be linked together as one
measure. parallel the single Senate
approved measure. One principal dif-
terence is in the treatment of the
General Accounting Office and con-
troller general.
one OF the House bills would make
the controller general, who is now re-
sponsible to Congress, an executive
oncer removable by the President.
The comparable provision of the
Dill passed by the Senate would abolish
the General Accounting Office and
controller general and would turn its
duties over to the Budget Bureau,
Both would create legislative audi
tor general to report to Congress.
The full Reorganization Committee
VIII meet tomorrow morning to map a
definite course of action. Chairman
Cochran said the reorganization bill
should be thrown wide open in the
House, so there can be no complaints"
in promising that time would be given
for full debate and the measure left
open to all germane amendments.
Speaker Bankhead said at his press
conference that he hopes the House
can begin consideration of the reorgan-
lzatlOn issue the latter part of this
week-probably by Thursday or Friday:
Two of Bills Passed.
Chairman Cochran pointed out that
two of the four bills approved by his
committee last year in splitting up the
administrations reorganization pro-
gram into separate legislation, already
had been passed by the House-one
by vote of 283 to IS and the other
without record vote.
House Minority Leader Smell chal-
lenged the action of the Democratic
majority Of the Reorganization Com
mittee in meeting without the Repub-
ican members to decide what to do,
asking Mr.. Cochran whether he in
tended to handle the reorganization
issue as a purely partisan matter. Mr..
Cochran replied that majority confer
ences on outstanding questions con-
formed to long-standing custom.
Passage of the Senate bill yester-
(see REORGANIZATION, Page A-3) }