The Federal Bureaucracy“Rule by People at Desks”Chapter 13

The Daily / Undefined Branch

• Interaction with all of us daily– FDA, EPA, DOE and many more

• Love hate relationship between citizens and bureaucracy– Less most of the time, more in emergencies

Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy

• Cannot serve in Congress and hold executive branch position. Article I, Section 6 of U.S. Constitution– Issue with Hillary Clinton recently– Done to prevent corruption

Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy

• Congress has power too create departments, the Senate approves nominees, but the President is the administrator in chief

Bureaucracy Today

• 2.7 Americans employed– 15 Cabinet-level departments– U.S. Postal Service– 50 independent agencies– 1.4 million in armed forces

• Congress can create or abolish with a law, or by withholding funds

Bureaucracy Today

• Difficult to manage because of size, interest group connections, and political history.

• Confusion over who is responsible and overlap of duties. – Mad cow disease

• Food and Drug Administration, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection

– DOA & HHS

• SLOW

How the Federal Government is Organized

• Department is the highest ranking in federal hierarchy and usually largest.

• Example: Department of Defense– Departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force

• Each has separate duties• Army has its own air force, navy has its own army (marines)

OVERLAP

How the Federal Government is Organized

• 15 Cabinet Departments are most visible

• Employ 70% of all federal civil servants and spend 93% of all federal dollars– 14 headed by secretaries, Justice department

by the Attorney General

Two Approaches to Creation of Departments

• Umbrella Department– Combining a number

of related programs• Homeland Security• Health and Human

Services• Commerce• Defense

• Single Purpose Department– Survival strength due

to a constituency group (Interest Group)

• Veterans Affairs– 1989 American

Legion

• Education• Agriculture• Commerce• Labor

Independent Regulatory Commissions

• Part of bureaucracy but are partially independent from Congress and President

• Run by a small number of commissioners appointed by president, approved by senate

• Federal Reserve – Ben Bernanke

• SEC

• FCC

Independent Agencies

• These agencies still report to the President

• Usually start smaller, and work up to becoming a department– Veterans Administration in 1930, Department

1989

• Currently 50– CIA, NASA, EPA, and DEA

Leading the Federal Bureaucracy

• ~3,000 presidential appointees head federal departments and agencies– 600 subject to Senate confirmation– 2,400 serve entirely “at the pleasure of the

president”

Becoming a Presidential Appointee

• Selection by White House Presidential Personnel Office

• White House clearance

• Submission of name to Senate

• Senate review

The Senior Executive Service

• ~7,000 members– ~6,400 career executives – ~600 political executives

• Along with the president’s political appointees, help run federal departments and agencies

The Civil Service

• Federal employees who work for the government through a competitive, not political selection process.– Originally abused by the “spoils system”– 90% of government jobs are now on merit

Civil Service Realities• Only 15% of career civilian employees

work in Washington, D.C.

• 25% work for armed forces, 30% for post office

• Majority of bureaucrats are white-collar employees (lawyers, managers, engineers, etc…)

Regulating the Civil Service

• 1939 Hatch Act– Allowed civil service members to vote, but not

be active in partisan politics– Also could not be dismissed for political

reasons– Overhauled in 1993 by Clinton administration

• Idea is it could increase political participation