Washington ? The biggest government reorganization in half a century is starting with the mundane ” like finding office space and deciding who gets new digs ” in an effort the White House says will take a year to complete.

Nearly two dozen agencies with tasks as diverse as protecting America’s borders and gathering intelligence will be merged into the new Homeland Security Department.

A few weeks after President Bush signs the legislation, the administration will disclose to Congress the timing for each agency to enter the new department, said Gordon Johndroe, the spokesman for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. The doors open officially 60 days after Bush signs the bill.

Dealing with all the early problems is the transition planning office under Ridge and personnel director Clay Johnson.

“One goal is getting everyone on the same e-mail system during the transition period of 60 to 90 days,” said Johndroe. “We’ve been working with all these people on how to transition in and integrate it while allowing absolutely no gaps in security.”

In Washington, where proximity is power, one question is where the new department will be headquartered.

“I’ve heard Crystal City, Pentagon City, across the river, over hill, over dale, but if I were secretary, I’d urge that the department be downtown,” said Paul Light, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.

“It sounds mundane, but all of the little things that give you an identity in this town are important: stationery, a flag, a logo and they’d better have a Web site open pretty soon,” Light said.

The administration has made clear there will be major changes in the jobs of many people at the new department.

“The idea is to get people from the back office into the front lines,” said Johndroe. “Where there are functions that are the same, how can we combine and better utilize personnel and equipment?”

Agencies as diverse as the Secret Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service, Coast Guard, the animal and plant health inspection service, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and the Commerce Department’s critical infrastructure assurance office would be in the new department.

A senior administration official said earlier this week that Ridge is expected to be the president’s choice to run the new Cabinet-level department.

Another sensitive topic: Uniforms.

“Uniform decisions have not been made yet,” said Johndroe. “We’d expect over time there would be some uniformity of the law enforcement officers of this department in terms of attire, but we will respect the longstanding traditions of many of these agencies.”

The last time such a massive reorganization took place was after World War II with the creation of the Department of Defense.

Money is one of the many things the new department doesn’t have.

Congress hasn’t appropriated any yet, and will deal with that problem in January when it returns.