Executive Order 5967—Transfer to the Department of Justice of Certain Functions Now Performed by the Veterans' Administration

Whereas sections 401 and 403 of Title IV of Part II of the act approved June 30, 1932, provide— "Sec. 401. In order to further reduce expenditures and increase efficiency in government it is declared to be the policy of Congress— "(a) To group, coordinate, and consolidate executive and administrative agencies of the Government, as nearly as may be, according to major purpose; "(6) To reduce the number of such agencies by consolidating those having similar functions under a single head; "(c) To eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort; and "(d) To segregate regulatory agencies and functions from those of an administrative and executive character. "Sec. 403. For the purpose of carrying out the policy of Congress as declared in section 401 of this title, the President is authorized by Executive order— "(1) To transfer the whole or any part of any independent executive agency, and/or the functions thereof, to the jurisdiction and control of an executive department or another independent executive agency; "(2) To transfer the whole or any part of any executive agency, and/or the functions thereof, from the jurisdiction and control of one executive department to the jurisdiction and control of another executive department; or "(3) To consolidate or redistribute the functions vested in any executive department or in the executive agencies included in any executive department; and "(4) To designate and fix the name and functions of any consolidated activity or executive agency and the title, powers, and duties of its executive head." Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority so vested in me, I hereby transfer to the Department of Justice the powers and duties now exercised by the Veterans' Administration which relate to the defense in court of cases involving litigation arising under section 19 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, as amended, except that the Veterans' Administration shall retain the powers and duties it now exercises pertaining to the obtaining of facts, the interviewing of witnesses, the preparation of evidence, and the procuring of all material which the Government needs in such cases. Such officers and employees of the Veterans' Administration, who are now engaged in the work herein transferred, as in the judgment of the Attorney General are available for the efficient performance of the work, are hereby transferred to the Department of Justice, and all other such officers and employees shall be dismissed. All books, records, papers, public property, including office equipment, and the unexpended balance of the appropriations or allotments or other funds pertaining to the powers and duties herein transferred shall be transferred to the Department of Justice as of the date this order becomes effective. This order shall take effect upon the sixty-first calendar day after its transmission to the Congress unless otherwise determined in accordance with the provisions of section 407 of the act cited above. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, December 9, 1932.