In addition to the article detailing the rescue of 19 agencies Trump intended to eliminate, Government Executive writes today on the much broader issue of government reorganization—which it apparently wished to do under the congressional and public radars. In Omnibus Puts Kibosh on White House Efforts to Unilaterally Reorganize Agencies, Shed Workers, Eric Katz notes that in the omnibus spending bill approved this week Congress codified its role in overseeing the process of agency reorganization (and often related diminution of staffing levels). Some of the provisions would prohibit specific proposals or workforce cuts from taking place, while others simply demand congressional review and input.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, for example, lawmakers said in an explanatory statement they were rejecting Trump’s proposed cuts and not providing any funding for “workforce reshaping.” The measure would allow for just $1 million for reprogramming, which would include “proposed reorganizations, workforce restructure, reshaping, transfer of functions, or downsizing, especially those of significant national or regional importance, and include closures, consolidations, and relocations of offices, facilities, and laboratories.” Congress said it does not expect EPA to “consolidate or close any regional offices in fiscal year 2018.”

At the State Department, the bill would require the department’s inspector general to review the “redesign” at State and the Agency for International Development to ensure proper processes were used and the input of employees was included. State would also be required to report to Congress on any actions taken last year in response to Trump’s call for reorganization and subsequent guidance from the Office of Management and Budget. Congress said it expected State to maintain the foreign service and civil service staff levels on board as of Dec. 31, 2017.

The Education Department is directly blocked from decentralizing its budget office, which reportedly sparked dissension both within the agency and at the White House.“There remains concern that adequate information about and justification for its reorganization have not been transparently shared with Congress and stakeholders to be able to evaluate the changes being proposed, including the potential benefits or existing challenges they are meant to address,” lawmakers said.

The Food and Drug Administration, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the rest of the Agriculture Department were warned to “be mindful” of the legislative branch’s role in setting funding levels for fiscal 2019.  Even though the Trump administration has instructed agencies to assume the drastic cuts proposed in the president’s budget would be implemented, Congress told agencies to hit the brakes.

“Therefore, the agencies should not presuppose program funding outcomes and prematurely initiate action to redirect staffing prior to knowing final outcomes on fiscal year 2019 program funding.”

A provision funding the departments of Commerce and Justice would specifically prohibit any preprogramming of funds to “reassign an employee or reorganize offices.” If those agencies were to issue a reduction in force, they must first provide 30-days notice to Congress.

The Homeland Security Department would need to provide lawmakers with 60-days notice if they follow through on reorganizing its headquarters.

OMB originally said agencies would make their reorganization and workforce reduction plans public in Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget. That document provided some details on agency plans when it was released in February, but promised more details in the president’s management agenda. The management agenda, released this week, also promised more details on the overhauls in the coming months. See Government Reorganization in the Dark for a discussion of how OMB has been hiding that information and has been sued for it.

As noted in that post, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has said the Trump administration’s proposals would amount to a “degradation of the federal workforce” that was occurring “in darkness.” He has called for hearings on the plans and attempted, unsuccessfully, to solicit them from OMB.