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U.S. Government Agencies

Can you guess the abbreviations of the U.S. government agencies that perform each of these tasks?
Guess the 3-letter to 5-letter abbreviations
Don't type the full answer - it won't be accepted!
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 12, 2019
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First submittedJune 12, 2019
Times taken14,633
Average score50.0%
Rating4.42
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Answer
Investigates major crimes
FBI
Explores outer space
NASA
Runs security at airports
TSA
Collects taxes
IRS
Spies on other countries
CIA
Spies on people electronically
NSA
Distributes money to retirees
SSA
Insures bank deposits
FDIC
Regulates stock trading
SEC
Tries to stop the illegal drug trade
DEA
Hint
Answer
Regulates medicine and food
FDA
Regulates air transit
FAA
Delivers mail
USPS
Regulates wireless communications
FCC
Performs biomedical research
NIH
Tries to reduce the spread of disease
CDC
Regulates business practices
FTC
Monitors North American airspace
NORAD
Compiles inflation and unemployment info
BLS
Gives grants to artists and performers
NEA
+1
Level 78
Jun 12, 2019
FINRA also regulates stock trading
+4
Level 82
Jun 13, 2019
FINRA is a self-regulatory organization, not a government agency.
+5
Level 78
Jun 13, 2019
I stand corrected
+4
Level 77
Jun 13, 2019
Oh. Wargames. I don't think I've heard of that agency since I saw Wargames.
+5
Level 77
Jun 13, 2019
NORAD is not a US Government Agency. It is a bi-national agreement between the US and Canada and the US portion falls under DoD.
+4
Level 72
Aug 8, 2019
FDIC and USPS also are not government agencies. They are government-owned corporations. The first sentence on the Wikipedia entry on the topic includes the phrase "unlike the federal agencies." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_the_United_States
+2
Level 66
Jun 13, 2019
Only got FBI, CIA, NASA, IRS and CDC. Thought WHO was the food one. (recognize NSA in hindsight). And tried UPS for mail (might ve slipped up though trying upc..).
+2
Level 72
Jun 13, 2019
REALLY tough if you're not American, or North American. Got 7, missed two I should have known and two more I had heard of. The rest are all new to me.
+3
Level 73
Jun 14, 2019
This was a little tricky, some of the acronyms are extremely commonly used (FBI, CIA, etc.) so much so that you rarely hear the full name. Others though I've never heard referenced by their acronym (National Institutes of Health and Bureau of Labor Statistics) for example.
+7
Level 73
Jun 23, 2019
These kind of quizzes are painful for libertarians...
+2
Level 82
Jun 26, 2019
NPS, NFS, BLM?
+3
Level 82
Aug 8, 2019
I tried ATF for drug trade and ATC for air traffic control.
+3
Level 65
Aug 8, 2019
I tried ATF as well. I am sure there is a difference between ATF and DEA, but this is a good example of how the government agencies overlap. I wonder how much tax money would be saved if government agencies didn't overlap and they were run efficiently?
+4
Level 82
Aug 8, 2019
I guess the difference is that ATF regulates things that can kill you but are still somehow legal.
+2
Level 50
Jul 14, 2020
@kalbahamut You mean tide pods?
+1
Level 75
Mar 10, 2023
I'm sure there are areas to be improved upon, but I also doubt there's nearly as much overlap, waste, and general inefficiency in government as popular opinion would have you believe. The people who complain most about this stuff rarely know anything about how agencies actually function. Case in point - you just plainly admitted you don't know what these two agencies do, and yet you feel qualified to render an opinion that they must be wasting tax dollars. Maybe avoid that sort of thing. It's not useful.
+3
Level 69
Aug 8, 2019
Love the quiz. Could add ATF, ICE, FEMA, NOAA, NHC, USGS, BLM, NTSB. Probably a bunch more. Maybe the yellow box would make it better? Not sure.
+2
Level 57
Aug 8, 2019
FBI OPEN UP
+3
Level 64
Aug 9, 2019
Could you accept NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) for "regulates business practices"?
+2
Level 74
Apr 14, 2021
Yeah like others have said USPS, FDIC, and NORAD don't belong and some easy replacements would be BLM, ATF, and ICE or some of the other ones suggested above.
+1
Level 76
Apr 24, 2023
Perhaps accept CBP or HSI for the illicit drug trade question? I feel that's largely what the two orgs are known for.
+2
Level 67
Dec 14, 2023
What's sad is I missed NIH and it's literally where I live in Bethesda