Understanding the Federal Administrative System

✴ Framers understood new nation would need an administrative system. ✴Also understood Presidents would have to rely on talented executives to oversee the daily work of government. ✴Primary task of the federal administration: to faithfully execute all the laws. ✴Framers left most of the details regarding administration of the government to future presidents. ✴Believed departments and agencies would be relatively small. ✴They made three decisions about executing the laws.

✴One-prohibited members of the House and Senate from holding executive branch positions. Realized it would create corruption.

✴Two-gave the president complete authority to nominate senior officers of government.✴Senate authority to confirm. ✴President can fill vacancies without Senate review if they are in recess. ✴Example : John Bolton presidential ambassador to the UN.

Understanding the Federal Administrative System

✴ Three-President not Congress responsible for acquiring the opinions of the main officer of each executive department.

✴Meant the president is in charge of what presidential appointees do.

✴He has the power to fire appointees for any reason.

✴Framers gave Congress the power to create the departments and agencies of government and to appropriate money to administer them.

✴Senate given the power to confirm certain presidential appointees.

Federal Administration Today✴ largest organization in the world. ✴ 15 departments, ✴ 50 agencies ✴ 2.7 million Americans

✴ 800,000 in Postal Service✴ 1.8 million in federal departments and agencies✴ 1.4 million in Armed Forces.

✴Origins of the term bureaucracy: bureau refers to a cloth covering on a desk, eventually means desk itself.

✴Bureaucracy: “ruled by people at desks”

✴Originally meant fast-moving, effective, and rational administration.

✴Bureaucracy has come to mean inefficient organization, red-tape, staffed with people who care little for the public they serve.

Federal Administration Today✴ Departments and agencies are difficult to manage.

✴They overlap with one another which creates confusion about who is responsible for what problem.

✴Example: avian influenza: national Institute of health, developing a vaccine.... Centers for Disease Control, making a vaccine available to the public..... Department of Agriculture, regulates how chickens are raised...... Department of Labor, protect poultry workers against disease birds.

✴Second difficulty-many layers of management to keep information from moving up and down the organization quickly..

How the Fed. Admin. is Organized✴ classified into four categories ✴-departments -independent agencies -independent regulatory commissions, - government corporations. ✴Departments-most visible, tend to be the largest. 15 exist today, employs 70% of all federal civil servants, spend 93% of all federal dollars. ✴14 are headed by secretaries, the Justice Department- headed by AG. ✴The Defense Department-by far the largest in total number of employees.✴The four most influential departments include the treasury, defense, justice, and state. ✴Based on the size of their budget the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest department of government.

✴ Provides health insurance to elderly-Medicare program, health care for the four-Medicaid, children's health insurance program covers health insurance for children.

✴There have been two historical processes to create departments. ✴ One- umbrella department - combines a number of related programs.

Example-Homeland security: 22 separate agencies.

How the Fed. Admin. is Organized✴2nd approach - a single-purpose department. ✴Example department of Veteran Affairs: created in 1989, before this Veterans Affairs was an agency. Department of Education: 1980, created largely to satisfy the nation's largest teachers unions. ✴Independent regulatory commissions: insulated from presidential congressional control. Examples include-Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal election commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Federal Reserve Board.

✴ Independent regulatory commissions are independent from Congress and the president due to their leadership structure.

✴ They are headed by a small number of commissioners - appointed by the President Senate confirmation.

✴ They cannot be removed from office without cause: inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office.

✴ The results of their independence-less responsive to political pressure. Their decisions are subject to judicial review.

How the Fed. Admin. is Organized✴Independent agencies: agencies that are outside of the Presidents control.

✴ They are separate and independent but they do report to the President. ✴ Approximately.16 Indep agencies exist, usually headed by an

administrator. ✴ Examples-EPA, CIA, NASA, NSA, SBA. ✴ The weakness of independent agencies: unwilling to cooperate with

other agencies or departments. ✴ Lack of cooperation cited by the 9/11 commission for contributing the

failure to identify a terrorist attack.✴ Other non-independent agencies-exist within departments,the forest

service-agriculture Department, the National Park Service-Department of the Interior, the Census Bureau-located in the commerce department

✴ These agencies report to the department secretary who then reports the president.

How the Fed. Admin. is Organized

✴ Government Corporations-more like businesses, more freedom from the rules that control traditional agencies ✴greater authority to hire and fire quickly✴allowed to make money through the sale of services: train tickets, stamps, home loans

✴Between 31 and 47 government corporations: ✴Corporation for Public Broadcasting, US Postal Service, Amtrak.

✴USPS employs almost 800,000 people, second-largest organization of the federal system.

Federal Admin. Leaders✴ all federal department and agencies are headed by a presidential appointee, either subject to confirmation by the Senate, or on the sole authority the president. ✴As appointees they serve the pleasure of the president.✴Approximately 3000 presidential appointees run the federal government. Including 600 administrative officers, subject to Senate confirmation. ✴President also appoints US Marshals, US Attorneys, and foreign ambassadors. ✴Four steps to confirmation. ✴One-be selected and vetted as a candidate. ✴Two-once legally qualified by the White House clearance process, disclosure on every aspect of their personal and professional life: job history, drug use, personal counseling, financial investments, traffic fines more than hundred $50. ✴Three-president submits name of nominee to the clerk of the Senate. ✴Four-Senate confirmation, delivered to appropriate committee, conducts its own review, holds a hearing on the nomination, most are approved by the Senate on voice votes.

Senior Leadership Core✴Senior Executive Service: 6400 career executives appointed through rigorous review process, plus another 600 political executives appointed by the President without Senate confirmation. ✴Senior executives continue in their post regardless of who happens to be President, selected on the basis of merit.

✴Political theory of public bureaucracy-organizations constantly seek to enhance their power, whether by creating new titles, adding more staff, or increasing their budgets.

✴Thomas Jefferson- made government waste the centerpiece of this first inaugural address in 1801, promised " a wise and frugal government, we shall restrain men from injuring one another, she'll leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor what it has earned".  

✴Set-aside as promised long enough to make the Louisiana purchase.

Senior Leadership Core✴Led to wave of corruption in the government's General Land Office. ✴1828 Jackson introduces the Spoils System-to the victor go the spoils ✴political jobs became known as patronage-in return for their support in the election they are given the federal job. ✴Civil Service was created in 1883 to end the corruption of the spoils system. ✴After Garfield's assassination by a disgruntled job seeker Congress passed the Pendleton Act of 1883. ✴Independent Civil Service Commission was created to assure that federal jobs were awarded based on merit. ✴Results-90% of federal employees are now selected on the basis of

merit. ✴only 3000 of 1.8 million are based on political qualifications.

Office of Personnel Management

✴The OPM: Office of Personnel Management - administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations. ✴Conduct studies on the merit system, ✴hears and decides charges of wrongdoing, ✴considers employee appeals against adverse agency actions, ✴and orders corrective and disciplinary actions. ✴Public opinion towards federal employees: love hate relationship. ✴Public wants more of virtually everything that government delivers: healthcare, national parks, faster approval for drug releases and home loans. ✴Complaints: government is too big and wasteful. Many believe government creates more problems than it solves and controls too much of daily life. ✴Public often doubts the motivations of people who work for the government. Widespread belief that the President's appointees are driven by self-interest more than serving people.

Working in Government✴Working for government-common misunderstanding:

Fallacies✴most federal employees work in Washington. ✴The government spends more on welfare and assistance for the poor then it does on Social Security or Defense

Realities✴15% of the governments career civilian employees working Washington✴more than 25% of and civilian employees work for the Armed Forces or the defense agency another 30% work for the USPS✴social programs consume a sizable portion of the budget, the workforce that administers these programs is relatively small, comprising fewer than 10% of federal employees (soc sec admin, VA) ✴almost half federal employees work for the DOD, Homeland security, justice, and state.✴Federal civil servants more likely to resemble the population at large: race, sex, religion, education, and disability then the political appointees or members of congress.

Working in Government

✴ Majority of civil service workers are white collar employees: ✴lawyers,✴managers, ✴budget analyst, ✴engineers, ✴inspectors, ✴and auditors.

✴Complaints of federal employees: ✴lack technological equipment and training to do their jobs well, ✴believe that their organizations do not discipline poor performers, ✴complain senior leaders are not qualified for their jobs.

Hiring Process✴vast majority of federal employees are recruited through the civil service. ✴Hired on the basis of merit. ✴Government regulates the political activities of civil servants to avoid conflicts of interest.

✴Regulating the civil service-1939 the Hatch Act : designed to ensure the civil service not have a disproportionate influence on the election of presidents and members of Congress. ✴Permitted employees to vote but not take an active role and partisan politics. ✴Illegal to dismiss civilian employees for political reasons. ✴1993 Clinton administration encourages Congress to revise the Hatch Act.✴ Made some forms of partisan political participation permissible. ✴Still bars federal officials from running as candidates, does permit most civil service members to hold party positions and involve themselves in fundraising. ✴Restrictions: cannot raise funds in their agencies. 

Hiring Process✴CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and IRS are barred from nearly all partisan activity. ✴US military has stricter rules regulating political involvement. ✴They may register and vote, ✴assist in voter registration, ✴offer opinions about candidates, ✴contribute money to organizations, ✴attend fundraising functions, ✴where display political badges, ✴attend political rallies and meetings, ✴and join political parties. ✴But they may not: be candidates for public office and partisan elections ✴use their jobs or authority to interfere with an election, ✴collect contributions or sell tickets to fundraising functions, ✴solicit funds or discourage political activity from a person who has business before the employees office. The role of government employee unions-since 1962 federal civilian employees have the right to form union. 

Federal Unions

✴The role of government employee unions✴since 1962 federal civilian employees have the right to form union✴ One third of joined. ✴Examples - national treasury employees union, national association of government employees. ✴Government employee unions do not have the right to strike and are not able to bargain over pay and benefits. ✴Can attempt to negotiate better personnel policies, can represent federal employees and grievances, can lobby Congress

Implementation of Laws

✴The job of the federal administrative system: faithfully execute or implement the laws. ✴Implementation includes a broad range of activities. ✴Collecting information, ✴conducting research, ✴writing checks,.. ✴Implementation is the act of converting a law into action. ✴Administrative discretion - agencies can implement the laws in the most efficient and effective manner possible. This freedom varies from agency to agency. ✴Congress passes laws, the federal workforce has the challenge of implementation of laws whether clear or unclear. ✴Primarily implementation is done in two forms: through administrative regulations-or formal instructions or through spending-which involves a transfer of money to and from government