From my POV, you save $$ by CLOSING agencies. You fire everyone, sell the buildings, etc. Then you take what are the (hopefully FEW) absolutely essential functions, and move those under some other existing agency.

MERGING groups is a way to move a lot of deckchairs around, and not actually save anything.
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The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. -John Buchan