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Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946

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reorganization. In other areas reorganization fell short. The positive effects of reducing committee numbers was at least partly counterbalanced by the unexpected proliferation of subcommittees, which were not regulated in the act. Many lobbyists exploited loopholes in the act to avoid full compliance. The ambitious reform of the budget process failed to work and was abandoned after a couple of years. Above all, the act failed to achieve its major objective. It slowed but did not reverse the flow of power and prestige from the legislative branch to the executive branch.
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took on vast new responsibilities—responsibilities that stretched to the breaking point of the capacity of the national legislature, as it was then structured, to cope with a vastly increased workload. At the same time the power and prestige of Congress were rapidly eroding. During the depression,
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The Act also prohibited the practice of the Executive Branch detailing staff to committees for policy development. FDR had detailed several Executive Branch staff to key committees that were working on his legislative agenda. Congressional backlash to this tactic is one of the reasons the Act was
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saw fit. In addition, the war caused Congress a severe loss of prestige. Suddenly, it seemed legislators became the object for all the pent up frustrations and anxieties of war. Some influential commentators charged that Congress's antiquated traditions, cumbersome procedures, and long delays in
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The Act produced mixed results. Probably its greatest success was in equipping legislators and their committees with staffs of experts to help draft bills and analyze the complex issues that come before Congress. Legislative oversight of the executive branch also improved as a result of
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co-chaired a joint committee of Congress to consider what might be done to make the body more efficient and effective. The following year, the committee recommended sweeping reforms, and the committee's co-chairs incorporated many of those reforms into a reorganization measure.
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By the end of the war, many legislators had concluded that the only way to recapture their lost stature was to reform the Congress. A key leader of the reform movement was the veteran
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of executive agencies; and establishing an elaborate procedure to put congressional spending and taxation policies on a more rational basis. The bill also required
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committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. Historically, citizens have not been able to sue their state—a doctrine referred to as
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Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245)
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and to provide information to members of Congress about those that lobby them. The Regulation of Lobbying Act was later repealed by the
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considering legislation rendered it incapable of meeting the needs of the modern world. The future, they said, rested with the
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Its jurisdiction from the beginning of the 80th Congress (1947–48) through the 90th Congress (1967–68) remained unchanged.
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The key provisions of the Act proposed streamlining Congress's cumbersome committee system by reducing the number of
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and carefully defining their jurisdictions; upgrading staff support for legislators; strengthening
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and even more so during the war, Congress delegated sweeping authority to the administration of
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of the 1930s and World War II. During those years of economic crisis and global war, the
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To provide for increased efficiency in the legislative branch of the Government.
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to register with Congress and to file periodic reports of their activities.
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List of current United States House of Representatives committees
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United States federal government administration legislation
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1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection
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List of defunct United States congressional committees
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to implement legislation as he and his agents in the
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Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
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Security Council Resolutions 82, 641: 464: 372:(1916–46) were combined to form the 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 1352:Democratic National Convention 1944 1171:Presidential Succession Act of 1947 1060:National Institute of Mental Health 695:Vice President of the United States 667: 280:The need to modernize the national 13: 187:Tooltip Public Law (United States) 14: 1646: 915:National Security Resources Board 16:Reorganization of the US Congress 1598: 1597: 954:Joint Long Range Proving Grounds 755:State of the Union Address (1946 544:Farley, Bill (25 January 2021). 356:Under the Act the Committees on 258:Congressional Reorganization Act 127: 23: 1236:Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952 1165:Housing and Home Finance Agency 421:Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 34:needs additional citations for 1005:Office of Defense Mobilization 993:Defense Production Act of 1950 865:Alien FiancĂ©es and FiancĂ©s Act 684:President of the United States 605: 537: 517: 483:Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 1: 1487:Backstairs at the White House 1271:Missouri Office and Courtroom 1224:Unrelated Business Income Tax 1140:Legislative Reference Service 1072:U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 895:National Security Act of 1947 510: 403:Title III of the Act was the 336: 275: 1084:Council of Economic Advisers 437:Title IV of the Act was the 358:Public Buildings and Grounds 7: 1427:Harry S. Truman Scholarship 998:Relief of Douglas MacArthur 929:Central Intelligence Agency 488: 469:Title V of the Act was the 309: 149:79th United States Congress 10: 1651: 1054:National Mental Health Act 1011:Science Advisory Committee 900:U.S. Department of Defense 807:Presidential Proclamations 703:U.S. Senator from Missouri 430: 405:Regulation of Lobbying Act 396: 393:Regulation of Lobbying Act 383: 374:Committee on Public Works. 284:became evident during the 1564: 1549:Martha Ellen Young Truman 1529: 1450: 1442:Statue of Harry S. Truman 1399: 1332: 1324:Truman Little White House 1302:Harry S. Truman Farm Home 1289: 1253: 1147:National School Lunch Act 1067:Atomic Energy Act of 1946 1033: 910:National Security Council 820: 713: 675: 562:10.1017/S089803062000024X 550:Journal of Policy History 322:Robert M. 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Wallace 1219:Excess profits tax 1091:Flood Control Acts 942:Key West Agreement 835:Potsdam Conference 471:General Bridge Act 465:General Bridge Act 459:sovereign immunity 362:Rivers and Harbors 290:federal government 121: 1612: 1611: 1490:(1979 miniseries) 1312:Historic District 1249: 1248: 1241:1952 steel strike 1113:Fulbright Program 889:Hoover Commission 528:National Archives 250: 249: 243:on August 2, 1946 199:Statutes at Large 119: 118: 111: 93: 1642: 1601: 1600: 1514:(2022 TV series) 1276:Truman Committee 1176:Taft–Hartley Act 1043:Medal of Freedom 818: 817: 802:Executive Orders 706: 698: 687: 662: 655: 648: 639: 638: 632: 631: 629: 628: 619:. 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"Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946"
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Great Seal of the United States
79th United States Congress
Pub. L.
79–601
Statutes at Large
Stat.
812
Stat.
852
Harry S. Truman
Stat.
812
United States Congress
legislature
Great Depression
federal government
Franklin D. Roosevelt
executive branch
president

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