john harwood

ROCHESTER, Mich. — Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry says he would eliminate three federal agencies.

Just don’t ask him to name them.

“Commerce, Education and the — what’s the third one there?

Let’s see,” the Texas governor said during a debate Wednesday night.

Perry’s rivals tried to bail him out, suggesting the Environmental Protection Agency.

“EPA, there you go,” Perry said, seemingly taking their word for it.

But that wasn’t it.

And when pressed, the candidate drew another blank.

President Obama has spent the first several months of his term trying to change the way business gets done in Washington.

As the Senate gets ready to head out of town for summer vacation, has the administration been able to institute a new way of doing things?

John Harwood, of The New York Times and CNBC, talks with Linda Wertheimer about whether the president has been successful in bringing change.