The White House plans to propose merging the departments of Labor and Education as part of a broader reorganization of the federal government, said a person with knowledge of the proposal.

An announcement is planned for Thursday morning, after a monthslong review of cabinet agencies with an eye toward shrinking the federal government.

The reorganization would require approval from Congress, but it’s not clear that lawmakers have the appetite to undertake a far-reaching reorganization, especially at this point in the political calendar.

Lawmakers have shown reluctance to embrace such plans in the past, and Congress has limited time for major legislation before the November midterm elections. Previous proposals to eliminate agencies, including the departments of Education and Energy, have made little headway. Streamlining the executive branch has been a longtime conservative goal. The new plan also meshes with the administration’s priority of retooling higher-education programs to train students more directly to join the workforce.

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White House wants to merge federal Labor, Education departments

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