5 USC § 901
Purpose
through Pub. L. 116-216 (December 11, 2020)
USC

(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 carry out any policy set forth in subsection (a) of this section.

Open Table
Historical and Revision Notes
Derivation U.S. Code Revised Statutes and

Statutes at Large

5 U.S.C. 133z. June 20, 1949, ch. 226, §2, 63 Stat. 203.

In subsection (a), the words "from time to time examine" are substituted for "examine and from time to time reexamine" since the initial examination has been executed. The words "of the Government" following "agencies" are omitted as unnecessary in view of the definition of "agency" in section 902. In subsection (a)(1), the words "of the Government" following "executive branch" are omitted as unnecessary and to conform to the style of this title.

Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Codification

Section 901(c) of former Title 5, Executive Departments and Government Officers and Employees, was transferred to section 60e–2(a) of Title 2, The Congress.

Amendments

1977—Subsecs. (a) to (d). Pub. L. 95–17 reenacted subsecs. (a) and (b) without change, added subsec. (c), and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).

1971—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 92–179, §1(a), substituted "The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States" for "The President shall from time to time examine the organization of all agencies and shall determine what changes therein are necessary to accomplish the following purposes" preceding par. (1).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 92–179, §1(b), added subsec. (c) consisting of provisions formerly set out preceding par. (1) of subsec. (a).

Short Title of 1984 Amendment

Pub. L. 98–614, §1, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3192, provided: "That this Act [amending sections 903 to 906 and 908 to 912 of this title] may be cited as the 'Reorganization Act Amendments of 1984'."

Short Title of 1977 Amendment

Pub. L. 95–17, §1, Apr. 6, 1977, 91 Stat. 29, provided: "That this Act [amending this chapter] may be cited as the 'Reorganization Act of 1977'."

National Commission on Executive Organization

Pub. L. 100–527, §17, Oct. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 2645, directed President, within 30 days after Mar. 15, 1989, to make a determination as to whether the national interest would be served by establishment of a National Commission on Executive Organization to review structural organization of executive branch of Federal Government, and stated that if President failed to transmit to Congress notification of his intent to establish such Commission section would cease to be effective 30 days after Mar. 15, 1989. [President did not transmit such notification to Congress and thus section ceased to be effective 30 days after Mar. 15, 1989.]

Ex. Ord. No. 6166. Reorganization of Executive Agencies Generally

Ex. Ord. No. 6166, June 10, 1933, provided:

Amendment of Section by Ex. Ord. No. 6623

Ex. Ord. No. 6623, Mar. 1, 1934, revoked a final paragraph of section 1 of Ex. Ord. No. 6166, which provided for the abolition of the Federal Employment Stabilization Board and the transfer of its functions to the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Said Ex. Ord. No. 6623 also provided in part as follows:

"It is further ordered that the said Federal Employment Stabilization Board be, and it is hereby, abolished.

"There is hereby established in the Department of Commerce an office to be known as the 'Federal Employment Stabilization Office,' and there are hereby transferred to such office the functions of the Federal Employment Stabilization Board, together with its Director and other personnel, and records, supplies, equipment, and property of every kind.

"The unexpended balances of appropriations and/or allotments of appropriations of the Federal Employment Stabilization Board are hereby transferred to the Federal Employment Stabilization Office, Department of Commerce."

Effective Date

The effective date of Ex. Ord. No. 6166, §1, as provided for in section 22, post, was extended to Dec. 31, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6224, of July 27, 1933, and the effective date of the last paragraph, subsequently revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 6623, was deferred by Ex. Ord. No. 6624 of Mar. 1, 1934, until such revocation could become effective.

[Subsequent to the effective date of Ex. Ord. No. 6166, §1, certain functions affected thereby were again transferred as follows: The Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division was transferred to Public Buildings Administration within the Federal Works Administration by 1939 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §§301, 303, 4 Fed. Reg. 2729; 53 Stat. 1426, 1427; the Federal Employment Stabilization Office, created by Ex. Ord. No. 6166, §1, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 6624, was abolished by 1939 Reorg. Plan No. 1, §4, 4 Fed. Reg. 2727, 53 Stat. 1423, and its functions transferred to the Executive Office of the President.]

Supersedure of Pars. 1, 3, and 5

Section 602(b) of act June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title VI, 63 Stat. 401, eff. July 1, 1949, as renumbered from title V, section 502(b) of said act June 30, 1949 by act Sept. 5, 1950, ch. 849, §§6(a), (b), 7(e), 64 Stat. 583, provided that: "The provisions of the first, third, and fifth paragraphs of section 1 of Executive Order Numbered 6166 of June 10, 1933 [this Ex. Ord.], are hereby superseded, insofar as they relate to any function now administered by the Bureau of Federal Supply except functions with respect to standard contract forms."

National Military Parks

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee.

Fort Donelson National Military Park, Tennessee.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battle Fields Memorial, Virginia.

Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, North Carolina.

Kings Mountain National Military Park, South Carolina.

Moores Creek National Military Park, North Carolina.

Petersburg National Military Park, Virginia.

Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee.

Stones River National Military Park, Tennessee.

Vicksburg National Military Park, Mississippi.

National Parks

Abraham Lincoln National Park, Kentucky.

Fort McHenry National Park, Maryland.

Battlefield Sites

Antietam Battlefield, Maryland.

Appomattox, Virginia.

Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi.

Chalmette Monument and Grounds, Louisiana.

Cowpens, South Carolina.

Fort Necessity, Wharton County, Pennsylvania.

Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia.

Monocacy, Maryland.

Tupelo, Mississippi.

White Plains, New York.

National Monuments

Big Hole Battlefield, Beaverhead County, Montana.

Cabrillo Monument, Fort Rosecrans, California.

Castle Pinckney, Charleston, South Carolina.

Father Millet Cross, Fort Niagara, New York.

Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida.

Fort Matanzas, Florida.

Fort Pulaski, Georgia.

Meriwether Lewis, Hardin County, Tennessee.

Mound City Group, Chillicothe, Ohio.

Statue of Liberty, Fort Wood, New York.

Miscellaneous Memorials

Camp Blount Tablets, Lincoln County, Tennessee.

Kill Devil Hill Monument, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

New Echota Marker, Georgia.

Lee Mansion, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

National Cemeteries

Custer Battlefield, National Cemetery in the State of Montana.

Battleground, District of Columbia.

Antietam (Sharpsburg), Maryland.

Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Fort Donelson (Dover), Tennessee.

Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tennessee.

Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee.

Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Poplar Grove (Petersburg), Virginia.

Yorktown, Virginia.

National cemeteries located in insular possessions under the jurisdiction of the War Department shall be administered by the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department.

The functions of the following agencies are transferred to the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior, and the agencies are abolished:

Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission

Public Buildings Commission

Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital

National Memorial Commission

Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Commission

Expenditures by the Federal Government for the purposes of the Commission of Fine Arts, the George Rogers Clark Sesquicentennial Commission, and the Rushmore National Commission shall be administered by the Department of the Interior. (As amended by Ex. Ord. No. 6228 of July 28, 1933; Ex. Ord. No. 6614 of Feb. 26, 1934; Ex. Ord. No. 8428 of June 3, 1940, 5 F.R. 2132; and act Mar. 2, 1934. ch. 39, §1, 48 Stat. 389.)

Amendments

The enumeration of the National Cemeteries and Parks of the War Department which were transferred to the Department of the Interior was added by Ex. Ord. No. 6228, §1, of July 28, 1933, and Ex. Ord. No. 8428 of June 3, 1940.

A provision of this section transferring the administration of national cemeteries located in foreign countries to the State Department was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 6614 of Feb. 26, 1934.

Effective Date

See section 22 of this Ex. Ord. The transfer of national cemeteries located in the insular possessions to the Bureau of Insular Affairs, as provided in this section, was postponed until further order by Ex. Ord. No. 6228, §3, of July 28, 1933.

Amendments

The bracketed provisions in the first sentence of section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 6166 reflect the changes effected by 1940 Reorg. Plan No. IV, §§3, 4, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2421, 54 Stat. 1234, 1235, Ex. Ord. No. 6728, and 1940 Reorg. Plan No. III, §1(a)(1), 5 F.R. 2107, 54 Stat. 1231, respectively.

Effective Date

The effective date of section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 6166, originally fixed by section 22 of this Ex. Ord., was subsequently postponed as follows: to Dec. 31, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6224 of July 27, 1933; to June 30, 1934 (insofar as not already effected prior to Dec. 31, 1933), by Ex. Ord. No. 6540 of Dec. 28, 1933; to Dec. 31, 1934 (insofar as not already effected prior to June 30, 1934), by Ex. Ord. No. 6727 of May 29, 1934; to June 30, 1935, by Ex. Ord. No. 6927 of Dec. 31, 1934; to Dec. 31, 1935 (insofar as not already effected prior to June 30, 1934), by Ex. Ord. No. 7077 of June 15, 1935; to June 30, 1936 (insofar as not already effected prior to Dec. 31, 1935), by Ex. Ord. No. 7261 of Dec. 31, 1935. Each of these orders contained a provision that the changes therein delayed might be made sooner effective by order of the Secretary of the Treasury approved by the President.

Effective Date

With regard to legal work performed by the Veterans' Administration in connection with suits against the United States arising under section 19 of the World War Veterans Act, 1924, the effective date of this section was postponed to Sept. 10, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6222 of July 27, 1933.

The effective date of the first paragraph of this section, insofar as it affected the functions of the General Counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, was postponed until Oct. 10, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6244 of Aug. 8, 1933.

Effective Date

Ex. Ord. No. 6243, Aug. 5, 1933, provided that "the effective date of the transfer to the Department of Justice of the District Court of the United States for the Panama Canal Zone is hereby postponed to October 4, 1933."

Effective Date

The effective date of section 8 of Ex. Ord. No. 6166, originally fixed by section 22 of the same order, post, was subsequently postponed as follows: to Dec. 31, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6224 of July 27, 1933; to June 30, 1934, by Ex. Ord. No. 6540 of Dec. 28, 1933. Said orders, however, contained a provision whereby the changes thereby delayed might be sooner effected by order of the Secretary of the Treasury approved by the President.

Effective Date

The effective date of this section originally fixed by section 22 of this Ex. Ord., was subsequently deferred to Oct. 10, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6239 of Aug. 2, 1933.

Effective Date

The effective date of the last paragraph of this section, originally fixed by section 22, post, was deferred as to employees separated from service under sections 2 and 15, ante, until Sept. 30, 1933, by Ex. Ord. No. 6227 of July 27, 1933. As to employees separated under section 12, ante, a similar deferment to Sept. 30, 1933, was made by Ex. Ord. No. 6245 of Aug. 9, 1933.

Executive Order No. 11007

Ex. Ord. No. 11007, Feb. 27, 1962, 27 F.R. 1875, which related to regulations for formation and use of advisory committees, was superseded by Ex. Ord. No. 11671, June 5, 1972, 37 F.R. 11307.

Executive Order No. 11671

Ex. Ord. No. 11671, June 5, 1972, 37 F.R. 11307, which related to committee management, was superseded by Ex. Ord. No. 11686, Oct. 7, 1972, 37 F.R. 21421, set out in the Appendix to this title.


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