“There is no authoritative list of government agencies.” That’s a quote from the first edition of the Administrative Conference of the United States’ Sourcebook.

How can we possibly promise Americans that their government is operating efficiently - not wasting their hard-earned money - when we aren’t even sure the exact scope of the federal bureaucracy?

Every list of federal agencies has discrepancies from all the others. Independent executive agency lists range from 78 to 137, and Cabinet units range from 174 to 268. Other lists have over 440 agencies within the federal government. Congress and Executive officials have delegated responsibilities to each of these agencies without always taking into account the purview of other departments. This has created a wide area of shared regulatory space, which means not only are resources being wasted as more than one group is tasked with addressing an issue, but sometimes conflicting information or regulations are formulated.

Additionally, expertise is wasted when agencies don’t know the resources available to them through other, complementary agencies. Coordination should be baked into the ethos of these organizations, and cross-agency management should be focused on identifying areas where work can be streamlined and improved.

Finally, these agencies tend to fall into patterns over time, failing to bring in the most talented members of the younger generations or improving the technology they rely on. It’s important that these agencies are equipped to attract and retain the best talent available, and that they have the resources they need to upgrade their systems in a way that maximizes their utility to the American public, as well as their security.

In short, these agencies should be rewarded for streamlining operations within themselves while coordinating with other agencies to work in a consistent and well informed manner, while also optimizing operations, staff, and technology.