The White House unveiled a plan Thursday to merge the Education and Labor departments into a single Cabinet agency: the Department of Education and the Workforce. The proposal is part of a 132-page document outlining a broad restructuring of the federal government. The changes would require congressional approval.
The merger is part of a plan announced last year by Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to “make government lean, accountable, and more efficient.” It also reflects the administration’s focus on career technical education and skill-building for today’s students.
The consolidation would create, within the new department, four subagencies, including one called the American Workforce and Higher Education Administration. This agency would, according to the proposal, “bring together current [Department of Labor] workforce development programs and [Department of Education] vocational education, rehabilitation, and higher education programs,” eliminating some redundancy across multiple agencies.
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