THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH Federal Departments Civics Mr Hensley

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH Federal Departments Civics Mr. Hensley SRMHS

The Federal Bureaucracy • The President is the CEO of the Federal Government • To enact and enforce policy, Congress and the President have created a bureaucracy • Federal bureaucracy is divided into areas of specialization

Role of the Executive Branch – Writing rules and regulations – Enforcing such rules, regulations and laws – Implementation of policy decided by the legislative or the President – Adjudicating conflicting interests

What it should look like • Non-partisan • Subject to Congressional budget and oversight • Federal employees apply specific rules of action in a rational, nondiscretionary, predictable, and impersonal way

Three features of all bureaucracies • Hierarchical authority based on a pyramid structure with a chain of command • Job specialization – each person who works for the organization has defined duties. • Formalized rules – there is a set of established regulations and procedures

Growth of the Bureaucracy 1789 – 50 federal government employees 2000 – 2. 8 million (excludes contractors) Growth mainly at state and local level since 1970 Total federal, state, local government employees – 21 million people!

The Name Game • Department (largest set, Cabinet level) • Administration or Agency or Bureau (subsets of Departments) • Commission (deal with regulation of business) • Corporation or Authority (conduct actual business activities)

Department of State • One of the original Departments • Maintains relationships with every other country (ambassadors) • Maintains embassies • Negotiates with foreign governments • “Foggy Bottom” mystique

Department of Defense • Largest Department • In charge of all our armed forces • Based in Pentagon in Arlington Virginia • Huge amounts of money awarded to contractors • Military-industrial complex?

Department of Justice • Handles all federal prosecutions • FBI, DEA, ATF and US Marshalls enforce warrants, make arrests • Runs federal prison system • Not a Secretary of Justice but an Attorney General

Department of the Treasury • Manages the printing of all our currency (fiat) • Collects all taxes through the IRS • Manages money supply through bond sales • Prosecutes financial crimes and counterfeiting • Manages gov’t budget

Commerce, Labor and Transportation • All three focus on business activity • Commerce: consumer safety and antitrust • Labor: unemployment benefits, enforcing overtime and workplace safety regulations • Transportation: interstates, airports

Interior, Agriculture and Energy • Interior: administers all federal lands and national park system • Agriculture: farm subsidies but also (80% of budget) for food assistance (stamps) • Energy: handles all forms of nuclear energy including bombs plus science research

Education, HHS and HUD • Education: a recent Cabinet-level department (1979), little real power but can set standards • Health and Human Services: FDA, NIH, CDC plus Medicare, Medicaid • Housing and Urban Development: “Fannie Mae” (FNMA), public housing, grants

Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs • Homeland Security has 240, 000 employees mainly in TSA, also Customs and Immigration, also cybersecurity and disaster response • Veterans Affairs handles the operation of all VA hospitals and all veterans benefits

External: the Federal Reserve • Federal Reserve sets the bank rate and the reserve rate which controls the supply of credit in the economy • Controls money supply through sale/purchase of government bonds (open market operations) • Is it public or private?