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Notes -
I don't really understand the middle paragraph here. IMLS was created by Congress and is codified in 20 USC Ch 72. It was created in 1996 and re-authorized in 2003, 2010, and 2018. Their funding is also appropriated annually by Congress. What does it mean for a bureaucracy to be expanded with "the consent of the public" if an expansion happening over the course of years by laws passed by the people's elected representatives does not qualify?
I believe @2rafa was referring to the expansion of the federal bureaucracy as a whole, rather than this specific bureau. But your point is still a fair one: the federal bureaucracy is the will of the people as far as I can tell. Look at FDR: he massively expanded the federal government, and he was so popular that he was elected more times than any other president in history. I hate the sprawling federal government, and it certainly exists in blatant violation of the constitution. I too would love to see it dismantled, and have the states handle those tasks. But unfortunately it seems like support for federalism is in the extreme minority in the US, so it would seem that the status quo is what the people of this country want.
Maybe we should just stop pretending that this is a federated system any more, and repeal the 10th amendment. At least that way we wouldn't have a federal government which blatantly violates the constitution any more. I would certainly prefer to go back to federalism, but as far as I can tell that ship sailed 80 years ago (much to our detriment today, as the ever-increasing federal power is why we have such bitter fights over federal elections). May as well dispense with the legal fiction and admit what we have become.
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