CHAPTER 10 The Federal Bureaucracy

SECTION 1: BUREAUCRATIC ORGANIZATION

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  The work of the government is mostly carried out by the federal bureaucracy, staffed by bureaucrats.  Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution allows the President to appoint and work with Offices of executive Departments, establishing the bureaucracy.

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  The Founders anticipated the need for federal agencies to carry on the daily business of government; but probably didn’t conceive it would grow so much. Currently nearly 3 million civilians work in the federal government.  George Washington asked Congress to create the first 3 and Attorney General.  Today, there are fourteen executive departments, headed by cabinet-rank officers, are a major part of the federal bureaucracy.  These departments are headed by secretaries and staffed with assistant secretaries, deputy secretaries, and directors of major units.

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of State  Responsible for foreign policy  Operate embassies around the world  Represents the US in the UN  Secretary: John Kerry

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of the Treasury  Manages the finances of the nation  Prints money  Runs the IRS  Secretary: Jack Lew

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of the Interior  Manages and protects public lands and natural resources  Operates the National Park Service  Secretary: Sally Jewell

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Agriculture  Helps farmers and develops conservation  Helps safeguard the nation’s food supply  Secretary: Tom Vilsack

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Justice  Oversees the legal affairs of the nation  Operates the FBI, US Marshals, DEA, Antitrust, and Civil Rights Division  Attorney General: Loretta Lynch

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Commerce  Oversees industrial and commercial sectors  Controls the Census Bureau, Patent and Trademark offices  The National Institute of Standards and Technology set weights and measurements.  Secretary: Penny Pritzker

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Labor  Protects America’s workers  Ensures safe conditions, minimum wage, and pension rights.  Bureau of Labor statistics analyzes data  Secretary: Tom Perez

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Defense  Originally the Dept. of War  Protects National Security and oversees armed forces through the Joint Chiefs of State  Secretary: Ashton Carter

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Health and Human Service  Responsible for public health  Manages Medicare and Medicaid  Manages the Social Security Administration, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration.  Secretary: Sylvia Mathews Burwell

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Housing and Urban Development  Preserves Urban communities and creates housing opportunities  Helps make mortgages more available.  Secretary: Julian Castro

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Energy  Helps prevent energy shortages and researches alternate energies  Studies nuclear power (ORNL)  Secretary: Ernest Moniz

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Education  Education is important to democracy  Helps control assistance to state and local schools  Helps ensure all students’ needs are met.  Secretary: John King Jr.

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Veterans Affairs  Operates veterans hospitals  Helps veterans find jobs  Helps families of service members  Secretary: Robert McDonald

I. THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS  Department of Homeland Security  Controls the Coast Guard, border patrol, immigration and naturalization, customs, FEMA  It collaborates with the FBI and CIA  Secretary: Robert McDonald

II. INDEPENDENT AGENCIES  The federal bureaucracy includes over 100 independent agencies, boards, and commissions, whose heads are appointed by the president.  The services of several independent agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), are widely publicized and familiar to many people.  However, many are small and not well known. The American Battle Monuments Commission is an example of this.

II. INDEPENDENT AGENCIES  Some agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the General Services Administration, provide services directly for the executive branch.  GSA builds and maintains buildings  CIA collects information from (spies on) other countries  Government corporations are independent agencies that directly serve the public, such as TVA, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the United States Postal Service.  TVA is huge in East TN, building dams and providing electricity  FDIC insures bank deposits  USPS became a corporation instead of department in  These corporations act like private companies, can be more flexible, and can take risks.

III. REGULATORY COMMISSIONS  These are independent of all three branches of government and have long term appointments  They make rules for businesses and industries that affect the public interest  Things like telecom contracts, radio licenses, gas pipes, etc.  They are often under intense pressures from the groups they regulate and their lobbyists  The revolving door between commissions and private companies is seen as a problem.  Security and Exchange commission controls Stock market  Federal Communications Commission controls technological communication.

III. REGULATORY COMMISSIONS  They have become more limited in their powers because critics have complained that they overregulate the economy  There was a big move in the late 1970s to deregulate and increase freedom in industry  They were the subject of regulatory reform in the Republican Congress in the mid-1990s, which made it a rule that they could not be unduly burdened.  There was a move to cut the size of government, eliminating 100s of thousand of federal jobs.  Competition is important to progress, so government has begun to focus on promoting competition.