ALL of the Federal agencies are run like that. The two different ones I worked for were run like that. Literally.
At the end of the day, these soul-sucking bureaucrats exist to serve THEMSELVES - NOT veterans. NOBODY is served by these bastiges - it’s always ONLY about themselves: their own cushy existences.
We need to flush a giant toilet.
The guiding principle I have observed at various agencies by personnel at all levels is: ‘What can we get away with today?’
Recruitment, hiring (especially for internally-posted positions), ratings, reviews, promotions, etc. are rarely if ever based on knowledge or merit and are, of course, political in the casual and formal senses of the word.
As so-called stewards of public funds, they are beyond irresponsible. Massive surpluses of everything - vehicles, computers, supplies - are commonplace in order to meet or exceed budget thresholds and ensure future funding. Some of the same funds are also used for what can only be described as recreation - cookouts, volleyball games, etc.
So-called business travel to conferences, meetings, etc. is routine and routinely wasteful - conference calls, video conferences and good old e-mails would suffice.
Like a criminal syndicate, there is massive pressure on each and every individual to participate, to approve. By becoming soiled that individual is no longer a threat to reveal wrongdoing. The security clearance system is a joke, with Edward Snowden merely the tip of the iceberg. Such clearances are another portion of the code of Omerta, since few will risk their clearance and thus their livelihood by becoming a whistleblower.
I have been a software engineer contractor for 25 years- EVERY Government agency I have had to work with was run like this.