What is the role of federal agencies?

Federal agencies implement and enforce federal laws, carrying out the day-to-day work of the executive branch and applying the policies set by Congress and the President to specific situations. The federal government has hundreds of agencies, divided into several main categories.

Cabinet-level departments include the 15 major executive departments such as State, Defense, Treasury, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security. Each department is led by a Cabinet secretary appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Sub-agencies within Cabinet departments include components such as the Internal Revenue Service (within Treasury), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (within Justice), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (within Health and Human Services), and the Border Patrol (within Homeland Security through Customs and Border Protection).

Independent agencies operate outside the Cabinet departments. Major examples include the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Social Security Administration, the General Services Administration, and the Federal Reserve System. Independent agencies are headed by single administrators or, in some cases, multi-member commissions.

Independent regulatory commissions are a special type of independent agency designed to operate with greater insulation from presidential control. They include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Election Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, and several others. These commissions are typically led by a five- or seven-member panel with bipartisan membership, fixed terms, and removal protections that limit the President's ability to fire commissioners.

Government corporations are entities such as the United States Postal Service, Amtrak, and the Tennessee Valley Authority that operate as government-owned businesses.

Federal agencies carry out their responsibilities through several functions. They issue regulations to fill in details of laws passed by Congress, enforce those regulations through inspections, audits, and enforcement actions, conduct research, distribute federal funds and benefits, deliver services to the public, and provide information and analysis to inform policy.

The growth of the federal regulatory state over the 20th century, particularly during the New Deal and Great Society eras, dramatically expanded the role of federal agencies. Today federal agencies regulate everything from air travel to food safety to financial markets, much of it through detailed regulations issued under broad statutory authorities granted by Congress.