Analysis
To understand and prioritize the stack of possible responses to the advanced state of corruption within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), think of a pyramid-shaped hierarchy of problems and issues. The origin of these issues and the overall administrative state can be traced to the Pendleton Act of 1883, which was established to end the patronage system which had preceded it. Just to illustrate the size and scope of the overall problem, see the Biden-Harris Management Agenda Vision statement, which represents how the administrative state sees itself, its problems, and its proposed solutions.
To provide context concerning the size of the HHS administrative state, the President’s FY 2022 HHS budget proposes $131.8 billion in discretionary budget authority and $1.5 trillion in mandatory funding. In contrast, President’s FY 2022 budget request for DoD is $715 billion. According to Federal News Network, the President’s Budget Request included approximately $62.5 billion for NIH, compared to $42.9 billion the agency received in the 2022 continuing resolution, and $42.8 billion in the final 2021 budget. The request represents a 7.2 percent increase for research project grants, a 50 percent increase in the buildings and facilities appropriation, and a 5 percent increase for training. The 2023 proposal includes $12.1 billion more for pandemic preparedness, and an additional $5 billion to stand up the new Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Based on 2022 numbers, the NIH budget (alone, not including ASPR/BARDA) represents 8.7 percent of the entire DoD budget….