It happens all of the time, you just generally do not hear about it as most of it takes place informally or via means you aren't paying attention to. In fact, o

It happens all of the time, you just generally do not hear about it as most of it takes place informally or via means you aren't paying attention to. In fact, one of the major complaints regarding DHS' ability to be effective has been that they have too much oversight. DHS reports to over 3x as many committees, subcommittees, and caucuses in Congress as the next closest Department (DoD, for anyone wondering). For example, Congress holds Constitutional authority to appropriate funds to agencies. A great place to see where Congress exercises that authority is via spending bills[1][2]. Depending on the organization, they will get into nitty gritty details to the point of almost micromanaging an organization. As an example of where you do not typically see/look, is the lead up to the creation of spending bills. There is a ton of research, cajoling, persuading, and compromising on all sides of the aisle during that process. It may seem that there is not a balance of power, but perceptions are notoriously faulty. It is the same way that if I were to watch the news regularly, I would think the world is being taken over by terrorists or that crime is at an all time high - neither of which are true. Things are not nearly as bad as they seem and people have a habit of romanticizing the past. That being said, there is currently a divided government (e.g., political science speak for Legislative and Executive branches being controlled by different parties). In addition, this administration has had three Supreme Court appointments in a single term. That is pretty much unheard of. The Legislative Branch has also delegated some pretty significant authorities to the Executive, which has been problematic in some cases. I guess to wrap this up - what you are seeing is not new. The behavior is just more apparent because of modern society's unprecedented access to information and a recent trend of politicians who don not have enough shame to hide their shady behavior. [1] 2020 Spending Bill - https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1865/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1865... [2] FY 2021 Intelligence Authorization Act - https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3905/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/390...