Transcription
Hey everybody, welcome back. With their discretionary and rulemaking authority, unelected bureaucrats can have a lot of power. So let's talk about how that power is checked. Use your power to smash that like button for me. [Music]
Recall that Congress gives bureaucratic agencies discretion over how to implement laws, as well as rulemaking authority to make regulations that have the power of law. They do this so the policies will be made by experts who aren't worried about politics. This has the benefit of the people making the regulations being just worried about the best policies and outcomes—not what's good for a political party. But the other side of the coin is that it's more difficult for the public to check the actions of unelected bureaucrats. So they have rulemaking authority but aren't responsible to the public like elected officials are.
But there are significant checks on their power, most significantly through congressional oversight. Congressional committees hold hearings and investigate an agency's activities, often requiring top officials to testify a couple times a year to answer questions about the agency. Congress uses these hearings to make the leadership tell them what's going on in the agency, to find out if they're satisfied with the work being done, and if they're implementing policies the way Congress intended. The committee also reviews, monitors, and supervises the agency. In addition to checking the agency's actions, Congressional oversight also limits Presidential power by checking executive authorization of spending and bureaucratic actions, ensuring that Congress approves of the executive actions. Congress also has the power of the purse and can alter the agency's budgets depending on whether they're pleased or not with their activities.
So while it's true that agencies certainly have some independence, it's not like they can do things that Congress doesn't, at least indirectly, approve of. Because the last thing the agency wants is to have their budget reduced. And through Congress's power of the purse, they can decide to appropriate or withhold funds to the agency. Additionally, if an agency makes rules or regulations that Congress doesn't agree with, they can pass legislation that supersedes agency regulations.
As the chief executive, the President also has significant influence over the bureaucracy. In fact, when a new president is elected, his or her ideological influence certainly affects the entire executive branch, including the Departments, agencies, and commissions. And the president may provide new instructions to the bureaucracy to ensure that their actions support the administration's goals. For example, after becoming president, Trump instructed the EPA to remove its pages on climate change from their official website, with the Department of Energy even banning official use of the term "climate change" within the department. The president can also issue executive orders and direct the actions, priorities, and methods of the agencies. He can appoint agency heads and can even fire some of them as well, though not the heads of independent regulatory commissions.
And finally, the Judiciary has the same check they always have: they rule on the constitutionality of bureaucratic regulations and actions. One check kind of comes from within the bureaucracy: compliance monitoring by non-partisan agencies is used to make sure that money appropriated by Congress is being used properly and as intended, and that regulations are being followed. Because the agencies have to make sure that everything is done just right—all the i's are dotted and t's crossed—this can potentially pose a challenge to policy implementation.
This last one is a call back to unit one, but don't forget about federalism. The fact that power is divided between the federal, state, and local governments serves as a check or a limit on all federal power, including bureaucratic power, since some issues are left to the states.
All right, you survived that. Is it for unit two? You are doing great. Keep it up until next time. This has been A La Money Production. Thanks again for watching, and I hope that you're feeling prepared for that unit test that's probably coming very soon. If you want more practice and exclusive study guides and lots more, think about taking a look at the ultimate review packet. I have a feeling that you'll love it, and I will see you in the next video.