Under siege from the unchecked Federal bureaucracy

Partisan wrangling in Congress over the federal deficit and government spending has created gridlock. Not much else is getting done. Into that void have stepped federal bureaucrats who are circumventing Congress to implement sweeping policy changes.

With President Obama’s legislative initiatives stalled in Congress, his appointed agency directors are finding ways to implement his programs without congressional approval. These aren’t penny-ante changes – some programs carry trillion-dollar price tags.

One example is the agenda of organized labor. Congress angered union leaders when it failed to...