Why Congress Delegates Power to Agencies

Why does Congress hand power to agencies? Gwen and Marc compare delegation to leaving instructions for a babysitter—trust plus judgment. They trace how this practical necessity shaped everything from Hamilton’s Treasury memos to the EPA’s air-quality standards.Gwen and Marc unpack why Congress can’t—and shouldn’t—do it all. Through stories of early Treasury circulars and modern environmental regulation, they show how delegation lets experts turn broad legislative goals into concrete rules that adapt with science and circumstance.Key Concepts: Delegation | Agency Expertise | EPA | Clean Air Act | Quasi-Legislative Power Examples: EPA particulate-matter rules, Hamilton’s 1792 customs lettersTakeaway: Delegation isn’t a flaw—it’s the mechanism that lets democratic government scale and respond to complexity.