Why has the president proposed reorganizing the U.S. federal government to promote our future competitiveness?

Over the last 60 years the United States has undoubtedly been the most successful country in the world, economically. But looking forward it's not obvious the same will be true. If you look at education or infrastructure or broadband they're all areas where the United States is beginning to fall behind. The United States needs a strong department responsible for championing competitiveness policy and if you look at the current federal government structure, there isn't one.

What are the options for reorganizing the federal government?

The first option will be to set up a department for business, trade, and technology. A department that brings together the work of the U.S. trade representative, negotiating international trade treaties, with the work of most of the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration. A more far-reaching option would be to have a department that includes all of those functions, but also includes post-secondary education, science, and higher education.

What are the next steps?

The president said in his State of the Union speech that he would put together a proposal and put that to Congress. That's the process that now needs to happen. Within the administration, they need to decide what the right answer is, or maybe a few options. They need to work with Congress to get congressional buy-in, and then they need to put that proposal forward.