Legislative Reorganization Act

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The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (LRA) was federal legislation that reorganized the congressional committee structure in the largest system overhaul since its initial organization during the First Congress. The legislation reduced the number of standing congressional committees, eliminated jurisdictional overlap between committees, and established professional support staff for committees and members of Congress, among other provisions. President Harry Truman (D) signed the LRA into law on August 2, 1946, declaring it "one of the most significant advances in the organization of the Congress of the United States since the establishment of that body."^[1][2][3]

Background[edit]

The LRA aimed to streamline the congressional committee process in response to complaints from elected officials that the congressional workload had become unmanageable. A series of external factors, including the economic pressures of Great Depression and World War II as well as the growth in administrative agencies during the New Deal, had increased the congressional workload to a point that members could not address the full spectrum of their responsibilities. Congress was hampered by overlapping committee jurisdictions, inadequate staff support, the processing of pensions and private claims, disjointed policymaking efforts, and poor communication with the executive branch, among other concerns.^[1][2][4]

The heightened workload resulted in the inability of members of Congress to adequately review executive actions and an increase in congressional delegations of authority to administrative agencies, according to a 1990 analysis by professor Roger H. Davidson of the University of Maryland. George Galloway, staff director of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress during the period, made the following observations on the state of congressional committees at the time:^[1][2]

“

Still functioning for the most part with the machinery and facilities inherited from the simpler days of the mauve decade, its calendars and committees became increasingly congested, its councils confused, and its members bewildered and harassed by multiplying technical problems and local pressures.[2][5]

”

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946[edit]

Members of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress drafted the LRA, which was authored by U.S. Representative Almer Monroney (D-Okla.) and U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. (R-Wis.). The legislation aimed to streamline the committee structure, reduce the overall congressional workload, resolve jurisdictional disputes between committees, eliminate the use of special committees, strengthen staff support, clarify the legislative role in the appropriations process, and improve legislative oversight of administrative agencies, among other objectives. President Truman signed the LRA into law on August 2, 1946, and it took effect the following year at the beginning of the 80th Congress.^[1][2][6]

Provisions[edit]

The LRA aimed to reconstruct and realign the congressional committee system in an effort to streamline committee operations and decrease the congressional workload. The following list provides a selection of the legislation's key provisions:^[1][4][7]

• Reduced the number of standing committees in the U.S. House of Representatives from 48 to 19.
• Reduced the number of standing committees in the U.S. Senate from 33 to 15.
• Allowed for the creation of specialized subcommittees.
• Implemented a pay raise and a retirement plan for members of Congress.
• Called for the development a legislative budget to facilitate the appropriations process.
• Required lobbyists to register with Congress and file periodic reports.
• Provided free education for House and Senate pages.
• Transferred petition jurisdiction to courts and administrative agencies.
• Strengthened legislative oversight of administrative agencies by calling for "continuous watchfulness" over the execution of laws by the executive branch.
• Expanded the Legislative Reference Service (now the Congressional Research Service).
• Allowed for increased staff support to congressional members and committees.

Impact[edit]

Though the LRA achieved some of its objectives, problems emerged that hampered its full impact. The legislation reduced the number of standing committees in Congress, but subcommittees proliferated over the 20th century—contributing to an increase in the number of professional staff in the legislative branch. For example, the U.S. Senate's 44 subcommittees in 1946 had nearly doubled to 87 subcommittees by the end of the 1980s. Moreover, while the addition of professional staff helped members of Congress to better manage their workload, the actual volume of work did not decrease, according to a 1951 analysis published by the American Political Science Association. In addition, the LRA's budgetary provisions were never fully implemented and many lobbyists managed to avoid compliance with the legislation's registration and reporting requirements.^[1][4][8]

Congress later passed the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, which aimed to address some of the shortcomings of the 1946 legislation and resolve new issues that had come to light during the interim. The LRA of 1970 included procedural changes to committee processes, the establishment of electronic voting in the House chamber, and an increase in the number of professional legislative staff, among other provisions.^[4][9][10]

See also[edit]

• Administrative Procedure Act
• Civil Service Reform Act
• Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
• Paperwork Reduction Act

External links[edit]

• Search Google News for this topic
• Full text via LegisWorks

Footnotes[edit]