President Barack Obama (Creative Commons- TalkMediaNews)

Requesting authority from Congress on Friday to close the the U.S. Commerce Department and merge six other government agencies, the president's goal is to consolidate the operations into "a single export agency," Reuters reported.

• Obama, in remarks at the White House, said the overhaul was needed to create "an effective lean government" and would make it easier for U.S. businesses to get help to export their goods, a key part of his economic agenda ahead of the November vote."With this authority, we'd help businesses grow, save businesses time and save taxpayer dollars," he said, outlining his request for powers to reorganize the federal government.

His decision may also be spurned by re-election motives in reaction to Republicans' claims that he is a "big-government liberal," said Reuters.

According to The New York Times, the White House said that making the government agencies one single export "would save $3 billion over 10 years and result in the elimination of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, though [the president] said those reductions would occur through attrition rather than layoffs."

The Times also reported that Republicans appeared doubtful the president would follow through with the proposal.

“Yesterday, President Obama asked for a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt limit, today he is proposing to shrink the federal government,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas to The New York Times. “Unfortunately, President Obama does not have much of a record to back up his newfound, election-year enthusiasm for limited government.”

The office of House Speaker John Boehner gave a "lukewarm" response, according to USA Today, in reaction to Obama's proposal that streamlining the government would be more beneficial for the business community:

• "Given the president's record of growing government, we're interested to learn whether this proposal represents actual relief for American businesses or just the appearance of it. American small businesses are more concerned about this administration's policies than from which building in Washington they originate. We hope the president isn't simply proposing new packaging for the same burdensome approach."

For many Republicans, the bigger question was why the proposal had not happened sooner, said The Wall Street Journal:

• "After presiding over one of the largest expansions of government in history, and a year after raising the issue in his last State of the Union, it's interesting to see the president finally acknowledge that Washington is out of control," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).