344 CHAPTER 11|THE BUREAUCRACY
transferred out of the Department of Transportation and into the new depart-
ment. This move sought to change the Coast Guard’s priorities from search and
rescue operations and routine patrol to a focus on port security, without increas-
ing its budget. The shift worked: subsequently the amount of eff ort expended
by Coast Guard personnel on port security increased from a small percent-
age of total eff ort to nearly 50 percent, with a corresponding decrease in other
activities.^63
Another strategy is to impose limits on who is allowed to run the agency. In
the case of the Federal Communications Commission, elected offi cials were con-
cerned that the organization would adopt regulations on political advertising
that favored one political party over the other. To prevent this, the legislation
that created the agency mandates that it will be run by fi ve commissioners, all of
whom are nominated by the president and confi rmed by the Senate.^64 However, no
more than three of the commissioners can be from the same political party. As a
result, if a partisan majority on the commission tries to enact laws that favor one
party, opponents only need to convince one supporter to switch positions in order
to block the measure. The same rule applies when selecting commissioners for
other agencies. In many cases, commissioners are also prohibited from having a
business relationship (as a consultant, stockholder, or otherwise) with any com-
pany that is subject to their agency’s rulings.
Delegation of rule-making power to an agency can also allow federal courts to
review agency action.^65 One study of rule making by the Federal Communications
Commission, which regulates television, radio, and other broadcasting fi rms,
found that relying on the courts reduced the uncertainties faced by members of
Congress, because they have more faith in the impartiality of federal judges than
of bureaucrats or other members of Congress.Monitoring
One of the most important ways elected offi cials prevent bureaucratic drift is
to know what bureaucrats are doing or planning to do. Information gathering
by members of Congress about bureaucratic actions is termed oversight. Con-
gressional committees often hold hearings to question agency heads, secretaries
of executive departments, or senior agency staff. Similarly, one responsibility of
presidential appointees is to monitor how bureaucrats are responding to presi-
dential directives. However, presidential appointees may be unable to fulfi ll this
role. Because they are chosen for their loyalty to the president, they may lack the
experience needed to fully understand what bureaucrats in their agency are doing.
Moreover, given that appointees typically hold their position for only a year or two,
they have little time to learn the details of agency operations.ADVANCE WARNING
Members of Congress, the president, and his staff gain advance knowledge of
bureaucratic actions through the notice and comment procedure described ear-
lier, which requires bureaucrats to disclose proposed changes before they take
eff ect.^66 This delay gives opponents the opportunity to register complaints with
their congressional representatives, and it allows these legislators time either to
pressure the agency to revise the regulation or even to enact another law undoing
or modifying the agency action.oversight Congressional efforts
to make sure that laws are imple-
mented correctly by the bureau-
cracy after they have been passed.