January 26, 2009 12:39PM 

# The Real Sprawl Problem: Government 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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Should we really give another trillion dollars to [a government that doesn’t know how big it already is](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012304040_2.html)?

> Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack… learned that his new workplace contains a post office, fitness centers, cafeterias and 6,900 employees. But he remained uncertain about exactly how many employees he supervises nationwide.
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> “I asked how many employees work at USDA, and nobody really knows,” he said.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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