Oversight Failure of Congress

The US government has 15 major departments, with over 450 supporting and independent agencies .

Since 1912, when Arizona became a state, the U.S. has added 10 new departments to the executive branch. They have also added many agencies. The FDR New Deal and the Lyndon Johnson Great Society grew the size of the U.S. government to one that is too complex to be managed.

During the first 120 years of the U.S. Government there were only 5 departments of the U.S. Government and very few agencies.

Since the growth of government began in 1913 there have been only 2 additional states to provide a small increase in the size of congress to oversee all of these departments and agencies.

Congress has the power and the duty to oversee the functions of government.

It has been said that congress failed in its oversight duty, leading to the housing and financial crisis of 2008.

The U.S. Constitution says there shall not be more than one representative per 30,000 residents. Because of population growth each representative now represents over 600,000 residents. When the country was started most representatives represented a much smaller group of people.

The House of Representatives needs to double or triple its size in order to oversee all the departments and agencies it has created. There should be a full time committee for each agency. Still, congress will fail because the agencies' employees will obfuscate as usual, and the lobbyists will seek to plunder.

Each member of The House of Representatives now represents over 600,000 people. The representatives love power. They are not about to decrease the number of people they represent. It is more difficult now for a citizen to have contact with their representative. If you want representation now you need to belong to a group that has lobbying power.

It would be a boost to liberty and efficiency if congress would downsize the government and eliminate many of the departments and agencies.

Department of State (1789)
Department of the Treasury (1789)
Department of the Interior (1849)
Department of Agriculture (1862)
Department of Justice (1870)
Department of Commerce (1913)
Department of Labor (1913)
Department of Defense (1947)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (1965)
Department of Transportation (1967)
Department of Energy (1977)
Department of Health and Human Services (1979)
Department of Education (1980)
Department of Veterans Affairs (1989)
Department of Homeland Security (2003)


INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Voice of America (VOA)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Corporation for National & Community Service
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Farm Credit Administration (FCA)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Federal Citizen Information Center (Pueblo, CO)
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
Peace Corps
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Selective Service System (SSS)
Small Business Administration (SBA)
Social Security Administration (SSA)
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
United States Postal Service (USPS)
US Postal Inspection Service
United States Trade and Development Agency

BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC)
Federal Maritime Commission
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC)
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB)
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
International Boundary & Water Commission
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC)
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS)
National Council on Disability
National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC)
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
National Mediation Board (NMB)
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB)
Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission (OSHRC)
Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
United States International Trade Commission (USITC)
Dataweb (Import/export data)
White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (Report)
Smithsonian Institution (SI)