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It seems to me as an average citizen, uneducated in all of the intricacies of government, that there are too many "departments" and "agencies".
DEA, FBI, NSA, ATF, CIA, INS....and on and on...more than I know or could name!
How can they all coordinate or even cooperate with each other?
It would be good, in my opinion, if there was less of these departments and agencies and consolidate them all into two main groups.
One for foreign and one for domestic.

Just for discussion, what if there were just one department / agency that was strictly for foreign intelligence and security that concerned the U.S.
Then, there was one department / agency for domestic intelligence and security.

Name one "United States Department of Foreign Intelligence and National Security" and have agents and spies like a combination of the CIA - FBI, even combining these two departments into two divisions...intelligence gathering and law enforcement.
That department would be responsible for everything that concerns the U.S. going on around the world pertaining to our security and our interests in foreign countries.

Name the other "The United States Department of Homeland (or Domestic) Intelligence and Security".
This would encompass all of the departments and agencies that now seem redundant.
Eliminate all of the other alphabets and departments and agencies.
Combine in the domestic department the FBI, U.S. Marshals, DEA, ATF, INS, NSA, and all the other departments and agencies into two divisions:
One division for Nation-wide national law enforcement (with investigators, detectives, inspectors, etc) that enforces all the DEA, INS, ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshals, etc used to...
The other division for National or domestic intelligence gathering on say, foreign and domestic groups hostile within the U.S. internally, and also hostile foreigners trying to infiltrate our boarders by land or water.

If that were accomplished, it could save a lot of money and that money saved could go to purchase the best personnel (education, pay and benefits, etc.) training, equipment (weapons, armor, communications equipment, computers, high-tech gadgets for safety and intelligence)

Bottom line: there is, in my opinion too much redundancy and a too-bloated system, with far too many agencies and departments that don't cooperate, nor communicate. They are all only interested in "cya" (their own, that is).

I would be interested in what others think...

Here's the biggest change I suggest for the FBI - Put the accountants in the Treasury Dept. and put the Harvard Law graduates in the U.S. Attorneys office - we need people who are as sneaky and treacherous as our enemies are working in the FBI.

Frankly, I don't know that I WANT somebody with a clean background check in the FBI. Some of the best cops I know are good cops because they pulled all kinds of stunts when they were teenagers and know the tricks that punks pull.

If they want to hire former mobsters for the FBI, that's fine with me as long as they are pro-American mobsters. So far the FBI strikes me as being FAR too "white collar" in character to do the dirty work they are expected to do.