President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and his first idea is merging six sprawling trade and commerce agencies whose overlapping programs can be baffling to businesses, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.

Obama will call on Congress to give him a type of reorganizational power last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office. The Obama version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose mergers that promise to save money and help consumers. The deal would entitle him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days.

Additionally, Obama wants to give the Small Business Administration cabinet-level status:

SBA’s elevation to Cabinet-level is a symbolic move, experts say

President Obama’s announcement Friday that he was “elevating the Small Business Administration to a Cabinet-level agency” was a largely symbolic gesture, government scholars say.

“The president has the ability to designate his Cabinet and the SBA will be now part of his Cabinet,” Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients reiterated during the White House press briefing, after Obama’s remarks.

[...] SBA’s seat at the table is likely temporary. The president’s full reorganization plan, which must be approved by Congress, would roll SBA and five other trade-related entities into one, still-unnamed agency.