Obama asks Congress Friday for the power to shrink the federal government by combining trade and commerce agencies with overlapping programs.

POTUS: “We live in a 21st century economy, but we’ve still got a government organized for the 20th century.”

Read the President’s remarks here.

Would blend: Commerce Department, Small Business Administration, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade and Development Agency.

Obama: “We could consolidate them all into one department with one website, one phone number and one mission – helping American businesses succeed.”

To elevate the Small Business Administration to a cabinet level agency.