Federal bureaucracy refers to the unelected administrative body of the Executive Branch of the federal government. It comprises the federal agencies, departments, and commissions. The main strength of the federal bureaucracy is its clarity in structure, policies, and procedures. Thus, the clear policies help in discouraging favoritism, while the rigid structure of the bureaucracy ensures that there is mutual respect within the administration, as the authorities are well defined. On the contrary, the main weakness of the federal bureaucracy is that, due to the rigid procedures and policies, it is extremely time-consuming to make the necessary work. The inflexible procedures force the bureaucracy to take a lot of time in implementing policies or taking actions, since they have to undergo all the stages of the process as defined by the procedures.
The federal bureaucracy needs to be reformed, and the main reason for it is to reduce the maze of government regulations, rules, and paperwork that is involved. The long and rigid procedures discourage people from engaging in the bureaucracy. For example, citizens may fail to apply for benefits that they rightfully deserve just because they do not want to be involved with the filling of paperwork and waiting for services in the long queues. Another reason why the bureaucracy should be reformed is to ensure that the employees become accountable for their work. For instance, since even with a change of presidency, the employees in the administration remain in their jobs, they tend to be relaxed in their positions. As such, it should be made easier to fire the bureaucrats or they should be required to undergo re-examination to eliminate laxity in performing their duties.