The Legislative Branch’s Big Oversight Problem

The federal government has seen a century of growth. In 1915, the government had only a handful of departments, 400,000 employees (half of whom worked for the U.S. Postal Service) and a total budget that, even when adjusted to 2009, amounted to just $11.7 billion. Today, there are perhaps 180 federal agencies, although as Wayne Crews points out, nobody is entirely certain. The federal government employs 4.1 million civilian and military employees. Annual spending is about $3.9 trillion per year and growing…. (Read more at Public Administration Review)