Andrew Yang Policy on RELOCATE FEDERAL AGENCIES

[Sherman A1]

Federal agencies were headquartered in the DC area when communication technology wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today. The costs in Washington are also incredibly expensive relative to other parts of the country. This has created a federal government that often feels divorced from large segments of the population.

Federal agencies that aren’t directly tied to general government activities (e.g., the NIH) should be relocated to different areas throughout the country to provide a boost to local economies and tie the rest of the country to the federal government.

"In my experience, the closer an organization is to its constituents, the more responsive it tends to be. We should move as much of the Federal government as is feasible to other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest. We should start by moving the NIH to Cleveland, where it would bolster the region’s already significant health care industry leadership."

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/relocatefederalagencies/

[brooklynite]

1. The UN tries this...I'm not sure it makes a real difference

Locating the NIH in Cleveland will give it ONE different perspective, but not a broadly different viewpoint.

[marybourg]

2. There are as many negatives as

positives in this idea.

[dalton99a]

3. Heck, move them to Montana or North Dakota

[StarfishSaver]

4. Many, if not most, of the federal agencies have regional and local offices around the country

There are good and important reasons for the headquarters of government to be located in a centralized place. Everything can't be addressed through technology and Skype.

This is more of the "DC sucks and all will right with the world if we just de-centralize everything and put it in the hands of 'REAL Americans'" demagoguery.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. As a recently-retired fed after 30+ years

I don't understand this policy position.

Most of the largest federal agencies have regional/field offices in most of the large cities around the country. You even have departments like USDA that have (or at least at one time in history, HAD) an Extension office in every County in every state in the U.S. You also have a number of federal "Centers", like "CDC" (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) that is headquartered in Atlanta,GA... NOAA's "NHC" (National Hurricane Center) is headquartered in Miami, FL and their "SPC" (Storm Prediction Center) is headquartered in Norman, OK, plus NASA's "JPL" (Jet Propulsion Lab) is headquartered in Pasadena, CA and their famous "JSC" (Johnson Space Center) is headquartered in Houston, TX.

I know where I worked (and I'm sure other feds in field offices felt the same), we used to complain about the black hole of "HQ" but then the other side of the coin was that WE were the "face of the agency" to the public because it was our staff who directly interacted with the public and those involved with our regulated industries in our geographic area, on a daily basis. In the case of concentrating HQs in D.C., it's because they have to be directly responsive to Congress who funds our agencies.