Alphabet agencies

The alphabet agencies, or New Deal agencies, were the U.S. federal government agencies created as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The earliest agencies were created to combat the Great Depression in the United States and were established during Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933. In total, at least 69 offices were created during Roosevelt's terms of office as part of the New Deal. Some alphabet agencies were established by Congress, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Others were established through Roosevelt executive orders, such as the Works Progress Administration and the Office of Censorship, or were part of larger programs such as the many that belonged to the Works Progress Administration. Some of the agencies still exist today, while others have merged with other departments and agencies or were abolished.

Editorial cartoons parodied the New Deal as Roosevelt's private game with alphabet agencies.

The agencies were sometimes referred to as alphabet soup. Libertarian author William Safire notes that the phrase "gave color to the charge of excessive bureaucracy." Democrat Al Smith, who turned against Roosevelt, said his government was “submerged in a bowl of alphabet soup."[1] "Even the Comptroller-General of the United States, who audits the government's accounts, declared he had never heard of some of them."[2] While previously all monetary appropriations had been separately passed by Act of Congress, as part of their power of the purse; the National Industrial Recovery Act allowed Roosevelt to allocate $3.3 billion without Congress (as much as had been previously spent by government in ten years time), through executive orders and other means. These powers were used to create many of the alphabet agencies. Other laws were passed allowing the new bureaus to pass their own directives within a wide sphere of authority.[2] Even though the National Industrial Recovery Act was found to be unconstitutional, many of the agencies created under it remained.

Partial list of alphabet agencies

Agencies created between 1933 and 1938 are New Deal Agencies.

Initialism Year Agency
AAA1933Agricultural Adjustment Administration
BPA 1937 Bonneville Power Administration
CAA 1938 Civil Aeronautics Authority (early Federal Aviation Administration)
CCC1933Civilian Conservation Corps
CWA1933Civil Works Administration
DRS1935Drought Relief Service
DSH1933Subsistence Homesteads Division
EBA1933Emergency Banking Act
EPA1970Environmental Protection Agency
FAA1958Federal Aviation Agency
FAP1935Federal Art Project (part of WPA)
FCA1933Farm Credit Administration
FCC1934Federal Communications Commission
FDA1906Food and Drug Administration
FDIC1933Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FERA1933Federal Emergency Relief Administration
FHA1934Federal Housing Administration
FLSA1938Fair Labor Standards Act
FMP1935Federal Music Project (part of WPA)
FSA1935Farm Security Administration
FSRC1933Federal Surplus Relief Corporation
FTP1935Federal Theatre Project (part of WPA)
FWA1939Federal Works Agency
FWP1935Federal Writers' Project (part of WPA)
HOLC1933Home Owners' Loan Corporation
IRS1862Internal Revenue Service
LUP1934Land Utilization Program
NASA1958National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NIRA1933National Industrial Recovery Act
NLRA1935National Labor Relations Act
NLRB1934National Labor Relations Board/The Wagner Act
NRA1933National Recovery Administration
NYA1935National Youth Administration
PRRA1933Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
PWA1933Public Works Administration
RA1935Resettlement Administration
REA1935Rural Electrification Administration (now Rural Utilities Service)
SEC1934Securities and Exchange Commission
SES1933Soil Erosion Service
SSB (now SSA)1935Social Security Board (now Social Security Administration)
TVA1933Tennessee Valley Authority
USHA1937United States Housing Authority
USMC1936United States Maritime Commission
USPS1792United States Postal Service (then the Post Office Department)
WPA1935Works Progress Administration

In national security

Since the 1990s, the term "alphabet agencies" has been commonly used to describe the agencies of the U.S. national security state. Many are members of the United States Intelligence Community,[3][4] and several were founded or expanded in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[5][6][7][8] Alphabet agencies in this sense of the term may also be called three-letter agencies,[9] because they often use three-letter acronyms.

Initialism Year Agency
ATF1972Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
CIA1947Central Intelligence Agency
DEA1973Drug Enforcement Administration
DIA1961Defense Intelligence Agency
DHS2002Department of Homeland Security
DOJ1870Department of Justice
FBI1908Federal Bureau of Investigation
FEMA1979Federal Emergency Management Agency
ICE2003Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NGA2003National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
NRO1961National Reconnaissance Office
NSA1953National Security Agency
ONI1882Office of Naval Intelligence
OSI1949Office of Scientific Intelligence
TSA2001Transportation Security Administration

Cabinet departments

Partial list

Initialism Year Department
DOE1979Department of Education
DOT1967Department of Transportation
HHS1953Department of Health and Human Services
USDT1789Department of the Treasury

Notes

  1. William Safire (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780195343342.
  2. Flynn, John. The Roosevelt Myth, Garden City Books, 1948.
  3. Bittle, Jake (12 October 2021). "John le Carré's Genius for Surveillance". The New Republic.
  4. Dreyfuss, Bob (11 May 2018). "That 'Deep State' You Keep Hearing About? It Doesn't Exist". {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. Elder, Grant (November 7, 2014). Wiki vs NWO (New World Order): Moving to Collaboration from Domination. FriesenPress. ISBN 9781460248683 via Google Books.
  6. Attkisson, Sharyl (November 4, 2014). Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062322869 via Google Books.
  7. Saeger, Michael (1997). Defend Yourself Against Criminal Charges. ISBN 9781570711626 via books.google.ie.
  8. Doss, Kevin; Shepherd, Charles (August 17, 2015). Active Shooter: Preparing for and Responding to a Growing Threat. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 9780128027837 via Google Books.
  9. Bigley, Sean (26 September 2021). "Applying to a Three-Letter Agency? Don't Overlook Their Suitability Criteria". ClearanceJobs. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
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