Thus the mission of the agency may become synonymous with the public interest in the minds of many bureaucrats. An agency's mission, however, must be accomplished within an array of laws, rules, and regulations-dealing with hiring and firing, freedom of information, accounting for money spent, affirmative action, environmental impact, and administrative procedures. Agencies also have overlapping and even conflicting missions. These characteristics make controlling the bureaucracy difficult, no matter which party occupies the White House. External forces .
All federal agencies are nominally subordinate to the president.
Bureaucrats, like people generally, desire autonomy-to be left alone, free of bureaucratic rivals and close political supervision. A less risky strategy is to develop strong allies in the private sector that will provide political support in Congress. Thus the Maritime Administration supports high subsidies for the shipping industry, and the Department of Labor could never recommend a decrease in the minimum wage. Often, though, an agency will be faced with conflicting interest group demands. The National Farmers Union favors high subsidies to farmers, whereas the American Farm Bureau Federation takes a free-market position.