338 CHAPTER 11|THE BUREAUCRACY
EMPLOYMENT IN SELECTED FEDERAL ORGANIZATIONS
Some federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense, have many employees,
but many others are quite small. The Department of Education, for example, has
only 4,000 employees. Does this variation in size make sense given the diff erences
in the missions of these organizations?ORGANIZATION TOTAL EMPLOYEES
CABINET DEPARTMENTS
Defense (civilian only) 652,000
Veterans Affairs 280,000
Homeland Security 171,000
Justice 108,000
Treasury 88,000
Agriculture 82,000
Interior 67,000
Health and Human Services 64,000
Transportation 55,000
Commerce 39,000
Labor 16,000
Energy 15,000
State 15,000
Housing and Urban Development 9,000
Education 4,000
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
Social Security Administration 64,000
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 18,000
Environmental Protection Agency 18,000
General Services Administration 12,000
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 5,000
Smithsonian Institution 4,000Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Guide to Industries, “Federal Government, Excluding the
Postal Service,” Table 1, March 2012, http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs041.htm (accessed 9/22/12).