By Debbie Wuthnow for THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR
Have you ever heard of anything referred to as the “fourth branch of government”? It’s a term that can be used to mean any entity that has influence over government beyond the three branches described in the Constitution.
To some, it’s the media. To others, it’s interest groups. Today, I’m referring to it as the bureaucracy and administrative state that now plagues our government. So, what exactly is this fourth branch? Where do they get their power? What role do they play, and who holds them accountable?
As of March 2022, there were millions of federal workers in 15 departments, 66 agencies, 42 boards, commissions, and committees, 11 quasi-official agencies, and nine executive offices. One study found that back in 2007, while Congress enacted 138 laws, federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules, including 61 major regulations.
The fourth branch’s power source
Many agencies get their power from Congress. For example, out of a law to “protect clean air,” power is given to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to figure out how to make that happen. The one law might then result in hundreds of regulations. Until very recently, courts would even defer to the agencies’ interpretations of the regulations. This practice, known as the “Chevron deference,” was recently overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2024.
