Office of Economic Opportunity
The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an independent agency and renamed the Community Services Administration in 1975.
The Richard Nixon administration made an unsuccessful effort to dismantle the agency in the 1970s.[1] The agency was dismantled in 1981 by the Ronald Reagan administration,[1] as it was moved into the Department of Health and Human Services as the Office of Community Services, with most of its programs continuing to operate.
History[edit]
Independent agency[edit]
The office was created through the efforts of R. Sargent Shriver, who also served as its first director.[2] Programs such as VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action Program, and Head Start (though that program was later transferred to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare) were all administered by the OEO. It was established in 1964, but quickly became a target of both left-wing and right-wing critics of the War on Poverty.
President Richard Nixon's appointment of Howard Phillips as Acting Director of OEO in January 1973 touched off a national controversy culminating in a court case in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Williams v. Phillips, 482 F.2d 669)[3] challenging the legality of Phillips' appointment. The Court found Phillips's appointment to have been illegal because it failed to meet the statutory circumstances which enabled appointment of an interim director without Senate confirmation; this judgement was upheld on appeal.
President Nixon's attempt to impound appropriated funds for OEO was ruled unconstitutional by Judge William B. Jones on April 11, 1973, in a case brought by Local 2677, AFGE; West Central Missouri Rural Dev. Corp.; and the National Council of OEO Locals.[4]
Re-authorization in 1975 changed the name to the Community Services Administration (CSA) but retained the agency's independent status.[5]