(Image source: The White House)

BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

President Obama is asking Congress for the power to merge federal agencies. CBS explains the president’s plan.

Bill Plante (CBS): “He wants to shrink government by merging six trade and commerce agencies because their programs overlap...the idea is that it would save 3 billion dollars over 10 years by getting rid of duplications.”

Congress would be able to vote on each merger the president proposes-- but the question is-- will Congress grant him the power to make those proposals?

CNN’s Brianna Keilar says-- the president’s move will put the ball on the red side of the court.

“...which is to say, Republicans if you want smaller government, this is what I’m trying to deliver for you. Kind of trying to force Congress to cooperate with him.”

An analyst on MSNBC adds-- this is a simple, streamlining proposal-- but Republicans could argue-- it’s so small, it’s not worth the effort.

Richard Wolffe (MSNBC political analyst): “This is a sensible, maybe small, that's where Republicans can go after it, they can say this is small fry compared just to the debt ceiling limit that the president has just requested.”

And an analyst for Bloomberg argues-- more than anything else-- this move is about following through on a promise the president made last year.

“Don’t expect a whole lot to come of this. This is basically a cosmetic change so the president can say ‘Look, I said it in my State of the Union last year and I’ve gone ahead and done it before my State of the Union this year.’”

Finally- according to The New York Times-- even if the president can clear his ideas with lawmakers-- he still faces another hurdle.

“It has been decades since the government has undergone a sustained reorganization of itself. Presidents have tried from time to time, but each part of the bureaucracy has its own defenders inside and outside the government, and that can make merger ideas politically impossible to achieve, especially when jobs are cut.”

And this merger would include some job cuts-- but the Times reports-- the administration says those would happen gradually, as people leave their jobs over time.