Charles Kruly · September 2013
81 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1733 (2013)
Self-funded agencies are a rarity in administrative law. Their freedom from both congressional budgetary approval and the congressional appropriations process, however, gives self-funded agencies a unique degree of political independence. Working from the premise that self-funded agencies are free from any meaningful congressional control, this Essay examines whether and how self-funded agencies are also removed from direct Executive oversight. The answer is not simple; just as there is no off-the-shelf design for an administrative agency, so too does every self-funded agency have a unique structure. Nevertheless, this Essay finds that, as a group, self-funded agencies are independent of direct Executive control in a number of important ways, leading to the conclusion that self-funded agencies are likely the most structurally— if not necessarily politically—independent agencies in the federal government.
