1. Independent Agencies

2. Three Types of Independent Agencies
(1) The independent executive agencies
(2) The independent regulatory commissions
(3) The government corporations

3. The label “independent agency” is a catchall
Most of these agencies are independent only in the sense that they are not located within any of the 15 cabinet departments.
They are not independent of the President and the executive branch. Executive agencies like NASA, and Government Corporations like The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Independent Regulatory Commissions are largely beyond the reach of presidential direction and control. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an example.

4. Independent agencies are located outside of the executive departments.
Today there are nearly 150.
Examples:
CIA
Federal Reserve System
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
NASA

5. Reasons these agencies exist outside of the cabinet departments are nearly as numerous as the agencies themselves.
Some have been set up outside the executive departments because they don’t fit well with any department.
Office of Personnel Management (hiring agency for the federal gov’t.)

6. Reasons Continued
Congress has given some of these agencies independent status to protect them from the influence of “politics.”
Social Security Administration
Office of Personnel Management
Federal Election Commission

7. Reasons Continued
Some agencies are independent because of the peculiar and sensitive nature of their functions.
Especially the independent regulatory commissions.
Federal Trade Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission

8. Regulatory Commissions have certain powers given to them
Quasi-legislative powers: quasi-legislative powers are used in rule making and regulatory functions and have the force of law.
Quasi-judicial powers: powers resembling those of a court of law or judge; able to remedy a situation or impose legal penalties on a person or organization. Quasi-judicial powers are exercised when disputes are decided in those fields in which Congress has given policing authority, i.e., EPA is a good example.

9. Regulatory Commissions Continued
These regulatory bodies possess all three powers - executive, legislative, and judicial - and are exceptions to the principle of separation of powers.
The power of the regulatory commissions is controversial and had been decreased under Presidents Reagan and Bush. [They believed in a weaker federal government].
Congress has attempted to protect independent regulatory agencies from political influence by requiring that each agency be led by a group of commissioners representing both major political parties.

10. Capture
Over the last several decades some observers contend that many independent regulatory agencies have been captured by the very industries they are supposed to regulate.
The result is less competition, higher prices and less choice.

11. Deregulation and Reregulation
Under Carter and then Reagan: deregulation of the airline industry
Under Bush (41): Regulation of many businesses increased due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clean Air Act Amendments, Cable Reregulation Act 1992
Clinton eliminated the Interstate Commerce Commission, deregulated banking and telecommunications, but increased environmental regulations
Repeal of Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) This act separated investment and commercial banking activities. At the time, "improper banking activity", or what was considered overzealous commercial bank involvement in stock market investment, was deemed the main culprit of the financial crash of 1929.