The Fourth Branch of Government

Have you ever heard of anything referred to as the “fourth branch of government”?   It’s a term that can be used to mean any entity that has influence over government beyond the three branches described in the Constitution.

To some, it’s the media.  To others, it’s interest groups.  For our purposes today, we’re talking about BUREAUCRACY and government agencies.  What are they?  Where do they get their power?  What role do they play, and who holds them accountable?

As of March 2022, there were millions of federal workers in 15 departments; 66 agencies; 42 boards, commissions and committees, 11 quasi-official agencies, and 9 executive offices.  One study found that back in 2007, while Congress enacted 138 laws, federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules. 

Many agencies get their power from Congress.  So, for example, out of a law to “protect clean air,” power is given to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to figure out how to make that happen.  The one law might then result in hundreds of regulations. (Until very recently, courts would even defer to the agencies’ interpretations of the regulations.  This practice, known as the “Chevron deference,” was overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2024. (Let’s hear it for checks and balances!)   

Other agencies get their power from the executive branch.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is part of the executive branch, with duties to prepare the federal budget and oversee agency performance.

So, whether from legislative or executive authority, it turns out that agency personnel frequently do the heavy lifting of governing.  The saying is that “personnel IS policy.”  Some would even argue that key civil servants are necessary in order to maintain continuity in government and keep things functioning no matter what party is in power.  But is today’s sprawling bureaucracy what the Founders wanted?

It’s hard to imagine that the Founders had anything like our administrative state in mind when, in 1790, the federal government had just 1,000 nonmilitary workers.  Of course, the Founders warned against a two-party system, as well, and that didn’t last long, either.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the rise of the administrative state.  It has been exacerbated as Congress has decided to relieve the judiciary of most regulatory cases and move those cases to administrative courts tied to individual agencies.  Others decry the expansion of presidential power over the agencies and the courts’ and Congress’ unwillingness to check that power.

So, how do we get things under control?  That’s the million-[MG1] dollar question and one we began to examine in our article about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Other suggestions include:

·      Strengthening congressional oversight.

·      Increasing transparency and public participation.

·      Reforming agencies to speed up the regulatory process.

·      Adding more judicial checks and limits.

·      Enhancing the accountability of the executive branch.

·      Proposing legislative reforms that would codify limits to funding and staffing.

It’s important that, in these times between nationwide elections, we make an effort to more thoroughly understand these issues so that we can choose wisely at the polling booth.  Do you know which approach(s) YOU most favor? 

The challenge—and answer—may come in finding a balance between many of these options and in holding all elected officials accountable to do their jobs and vigilantly maintain the system of checks and balances that our Founders so carefully put in place.