Established in 1879 to map the West. Its streamgages, seismometers, and satellites (it co-runs Landsat with NASA) supply the raw data other agencies regulate with.
Open the interactive page for USGS →Created byOrganic Act of March 3, 1879 (ch. 182, 20 Stat. 394), creating the Geological Survey in the Department of the Interior; redesignated "United States Geological Survey" in 1991-92
Head appointed43 U.S.C. § 31(a): Director appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; no fixed term (statute also bars the Director and Survey members from "personal or private interests in the lands or mineral wealth of the region under survey") (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory protection — at will
Funded underAnnual Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (single "Surveys, Investigations, and Research" account); supplemented by reimbursable cooperative work with states and agencies (43 U.S.C. § 36c — acceptance of contributions from public and private sources and prosecution of cooperative projects)
Congressional oversightHouse Natural Resources · Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Inspector generalDepartment of the Interior OIG (PAS establishment IG under the Inspector General Act, 5 U.S.C. ch. 4)
Judicial reviewScience agency with essentially no regulatory output, so litigation is rare; any final agency action would be reviewed under APA § 702 in district court (courts have held Information Quality Act data complaints unreviewable)
No regulatory channel: USGS conducts science and regulates no one. Vote for Congress, which sets its budget; scientific users and state partners shape its priorities.