{"id":6351,"date":"2025-02-13T05:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T05:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/?p=6351"},"modified":"2025-02-15T05:51:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T05:51:31","slug":"omg-the-size-of-the-federal-government-elon-musk-has-no-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/omg-the-size-of-the-federal-government-elon-musk-has-no-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a1Dios m\u00edo! Elon Musk no tiene ni idea del tama\u00f1o del Gobierno Federal."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Hace poco vi un video de Elon Musk describiendo lo dif\u00edcil que fue obtener una lista de agencias gubernamentales. Aqu\u00ed est\u00e1 el video: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/GXJvxPMY_H0\">https:\/\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/GXJvxPMY_H0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">www.youtube.com<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/GXJvxPMY_H0\">\/pantalones cortos\/GXJvxPMY_H0<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">En el clip dice que Google y diferentes IA dicen que el n\u00famero ronda los 400. Bueno, fui al sitio del gobierno. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opm.gov\/about-us\/open-government\/Data\/Apps\/Agencies\/index.aspx\">https:\/\/www.opm.gov\/about-us\/open-government\/Data\/Apps\/Agencies\/index.aspx<\/a> que permite ver las agencias. Pero, claro, el sitio dificulta verlas todas. Hay que usar listas desplegables para filtrar. As\u00ed que, por diversi\u00f3n, us\u00e9 una IA para escribir un programa JavaScript que extrajera y listara solo las entradas de la primera categor\u00eda, \u00abAgencias a Nivel de Gabinete\u00bb. El resultado final fue una tabla con <strong>63120<\/strong> filas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If you want to crash your browser you can load the generated table here: <a href=\"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/agencies.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/agencies.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Keep in mind that this is a list of &#8220;agencies&#8221;, not departments.  For example, the Department of Education lists over 20 agencies in this data set.  But still,  <strong>63120<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Using AI I asked why the discrepancy in numbers.  It appears that one source of the 400 number is the Federal Registry. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/agencies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/agencies<\/a>).  ChatGPT explained.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why the Number Varies:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Different Definitions of &#8220;Agency&#8221;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">El <strong>Federal Register<\/strong> typically lists <strong>top-level agencies and sub-agencies<\/strong>, but not individual offices, commands, or divisions within large agencies or military branches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">El <strong>Office of Personnel Management (OPM)<\/strong> appears to <strong>count internal components<\/strong> within departments, including specialized offices within the military, leading to a much larger number.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Military and Civilian Components<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">The Department of Defense (DoD) alone includes numerous subcomponents such as:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Army<\/strong>, <strong>Navy<\/strong>, <strong>Air Force<\/strong>, <strong>Space Force<\/strong>, <strong>Marines<\/strong> (each with its own internal structures).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Specialized agencies within each branch, like <strong>Air Force Medical Operations Agency<\/strong> or <strong>Naval Air Systems Command<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">These <strong>smaller divisions and commands<\/strong> may not be listed in the Federal Register but could be counted separately by OPM.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Bureaucratic Structures and Naming Conventions<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Some &#8220;agencies&#8221; may be <strong>offices, centers, or divisions<\/strong> rather than independent agencies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">The OPM\u2019s listing may include <strong>administrative units, regional offices, and support functions<\/strong> that are technically part of a larger department.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Regulatory vs. Operational Agencies<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">The Federal Register often focuses on <strong>regulatory agencies<\/strong> that <strong>have rulemaking authority<\/strong>, while OPM tracks <strong>operational agencies<\/strong> that <strong>employ federal workers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Yes, if we count <strong>every organizational entity<\/strong> (sub-agencies, offices, commands, centers, and operational units), the number could be in the <strong>tens of thousands<\/strong>, as OPM suggests. However, if we define &#8220;agencies&#8221; more strictly as <strong>independent or semi-independent federal entities<\/strong>, the number is much lower (around 400-500).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s a matter of classification\u2014both numbers can be correct, depending on how you define an &#8220;agency.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it depends on how you slice the pie.  But lets look at the ingredients of that pie.  I asked how many people work for the Federal Government.  ChatGPT&#8217;s response:<br>As of January 2025, the U.S. federal government employs approximately <strong>3 million civilian workers<\/strong>, according to data from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/CES9091000001?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fred.stlouisfed.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This figure includes employees across various federal departments and agencies but <strong>excludes<\/strong> active-duty military personnel, who number around <strong>1.3 million<\/strong>, and U.S. Postal Service workers, who account for over <strong>600,000<\/strong> employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/01\/07\/what-the-data-says-about-federal-workers\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pewresearch.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Therefore, when considering civilian federal employees, active-duty military personnel, and Postal Service workers, the total number of individuals employed by the federal government exceeds <strong>4.9 million<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><br>That is more people than the population of these states combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Wyoming<\/strong>: 587,618<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Vermont<\/strong>: 647,064<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>District of Columbia<\/strong>: 670,050<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Alaska<\/strong>: 740,133<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>North Dakota<\/strong>: 780,588<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>South Dakota<\/strong>: 909,824<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Total<\/strong>: 4,335,277<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">I think it is a fair question to ask what the tax payers get for their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">At the end of the day, the sheer scale of the federal government\u2014both in terms of agencies and employees\u2014raises important questions. If there are over 63,000 agencies and nearly 5 million people on the federal payroll, what exactly are all these entities doing? How much of this bureaucracy is essential, and how much is just the natural bloat of a system with little incentive to streamline itself? Maybe Elon Musk was onto something when he pointed out how hard it is to even define the size of the government. If understanding it is this difficult, what does that say about its efficiency? Perhaps it\u2019s time for taxpayers to demand clearer answers\u2014and maybe even a little accountability.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently saw a video clip of Elon Musk describing how hard it was to get a list of government agencies. Here is the clip: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/GXJvxPMY_H0 In the clip he says the Google and different AI&#8217;s say the number is around 400. Well I went to the government site https:\/\/www.opm.gov\/about-us\/open-government\/Data\/Apps\/Agencies\/index.aspx which lets you see the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/omg-the-size-of-the-federal-government-elon-musk-has-no-idea\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continuar leyendo<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;OMG, the size of the Federal Government.  Elon Musk has no idea.&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Bob","author_link":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/author\/admin\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6351"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6385,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351\/revisions\/6385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertjwallace.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}