Title: Federal Bureaucracy - FAQ | Shmoop
Headings: Federal Bureaucracy - FAQ
Federal Bureaucracy - FAQ
FAQ
What exactly is the federal bureaucracy?
What are some examples of the federal bureaucracy?
What is the difference between a department, an administration, an agency, an authority, and a commission?
Why are some executive agencies "independent"?
What is a government corporation?
Where did all these departments and agencies come from?
Who runs the federal bureaucracy?
Does Congress have any ongoing say in the operation of the federal bureaucracy?
How are positions in the federal bureaucracy filled?
Why must federal employees take an exam?
How many people are employed by the federal government?
Why has the federal bureaucracy grown?
Have there been periods when the federal bureaucracy shrank?

Content: One of the newest is the Department of Homeland Security, created by Congress in 2002 in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. One that impacts all of us on a daily basis is the Food and Drug Administration, created by Congress in 1906 in order to guarantee the purity of our food and medicine. An agency that has received a great deal of attention over the past several years is the Environmental Protection Agency. It was formed in 1971 by President Richard Nixon through a reorganization of several executive branch agencies to set and enforce anti-pollution standards. What is the difference between a department, an administration, an agency, an authority, and a commission? Departments are the largest organizations within the federal bureaucracy. There are fifteen executive departments (Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs). Department heads are labeled secretaries (except for the Attorney General, who heads the Department of Justice), and these officials all serve in the president's cabinet. Most of the agencies, commissions, and administrations fall under one of the executive departments. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.