Pressures on Federal Regulatory Commissions

Archive Report

Investigation of Federal Commissions

The inquiry into operations of federal regulatory commissions and the conduct of their members, opened on Jan. 27 by the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight, has evoked general interest in a sector of government which ordinarily escapes close public attention. The investigation, which is likely to extend beyond the present session of Congress, has been concerned so far chiefly with the affairs of the Federal Communications Commission. Five similar agencies—the Civil Aeronautics Board, Federal Power Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission—are expected to come under the subcommittee's scrutiny in due course. The “Big Six” regulatory commissions form collectively what has been called “a headless ’fourth branch’ of the government, a haphazard deposit of irresponsible agencies ...

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