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.
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." "Even the Comptroller-General of the United States, who audits the government's accounts, declared he had never heard of some of them."Flynn, John. The Roosevelt Myth, Garden City Books, 1948. 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. Even though the National Industrial Recovery Act was found to be unconstitutional, many of the agencies created under it remained.
Partial list of New Deal alphabet agencies Initialism Year Agency Remains in Effect AAA 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Administration No BPA 1937 Bonneville Power Administration Yes CAA 1938 Civil Aeronautics Authority Yes (now Federal Aviation Administration) CCC 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps No CWA 1933 Civil Works Administration No DRS 1935 Drought Relief Service No DSH 1933 Subsistence Homesteads Division No EBA 1933 Emergency Banking Act No FAP 1935 Federal Art Project (part of WPA) No FCA 1933 Farm Credit Administration Yes FCC 1934 Federal Communications Commission Yes FDIC 1933 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Yes FERA 1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration No FHA 1934 Federal Housing Administration Yes (now subdivision of HUD) FLSA 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act Yes FMP 1935 Federal Music Project (part of WPA) No FSA 1935 Farm Security Administration No FSRC 1933 Federal Surplus Relief Corporation No FTP 1935 Federal Theatre Project (part of WPA) No FWA 1939 Federal Works Agency No FWP 1935 Federal Writers' Project (part of WPA) No HOLC 1933 Home Owners' Loan Corporation NoIRA1934Indian Reorganization ActYes LUP 1934 Land Utilization Program No NIRA 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act No NLRA 1935 National Labor Relations Act Yes NLRB 1934 National Labor Relations Board/The Wagner Act Yes NRA 1933 National Recovery Administration No NYA 1935 National Youth Administration No PRRA 1933 Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration No PWA 1933 Public Works Administration No RA 1935 Resettlement Administration No REA 1935 Rural Electrification Administration Yes (now Rural Utilities Service) SEC 1934 Securities and Exchange Commission Yes SES 1933 Soil Erosion Service No SSB (now SSA) 1935 Social Security Board Yes (now Social Security Administration) TVA 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority Yes USHA 1937 United States Housing Authority No USMC 1936 United States Maritime Commission No WPA 1935 Works Progress Administration No
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, and several were founded or expanded in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Alphabet agencies in this sense of the term may also be called three-letter agencies, because they often use three-letter acronyms.
Initialism Year Agency ATF 1972 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives CIA 1947 Central Intelligence Agency DEA 1973 Drug Enforcement Administration DIA 1961 Defense Intelligence Agency DHS 2002 Department of Homeland Security DOJ 1870 Department of Justice FBI 1908 Federal Bureau of Investigation FEMA 1979 Federal Emergency Management Agency ICE 2003 Immigration and Customs Enforcement NGA 2003 National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency NRO 1961 National Reconnaissance Office NSA 1953 National Security Agency ONI 1882 Office of Naval Intelligence OSI 1949 Office of Scientific Intelligence TSA 2001 Transportation Security Administration
Cabinet departments Initialism Year Department DOC 1913 Department of Commerce DOD 1947 Department of Defense DOE 1977 Department of Energy DOI 1849 Department of the Interior DOJ 1870 Department of Justice DOL 1913 Department of Labor DOS 1789 Department of State HUD 1965 Department of Housing & Urban Development ED 1979 Department of Education DOT 1967 Department of Transportation HHS 1953 Department of Health and Human Services USDA 1862 Department of Agriculture USDT 1789 Department of the Treasury VA 1930 Department of Veterans Affairs
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