During the Depression, and even more so during the war, Congress delegated sweeping authority to the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt to implement legislation as he and his agents in the executive branch saw fit.

Some influential commentators charged that Congress's antiquated traditions, cumbersome procedures, and long delays in considering legislation rendered it incapable of meeting the needs of the modern world.

The key provisions of the Act proposed streamlining Congress's cumbersome committee system by reducing the number of standing committees and carefully defining their jurisdictions; upgrading staff support for legislators; strengthening congressional oversight of executive agencies; and establishing an elaborate procedure to put congressional spending and taxation policies on a more rational basis.

Probably its greatest success was in equipping legislators and their committees with staffs of experts to help draft bills and analyze the complex issues that come before Congress.

The positive effects of reducing committee numbers was at least partly counterbalanced by the unexpected proliferation of subcommittees, which were not regulated in the act.

The FTCA constitutes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, permitting citizens to pursue some tort claims against the government.

847), providing for the: "construction, maintenance, and operation of bridges and approaches thereto over the navigable waters of the United States" and repealed provisions of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.