I recently spoke with an administrator about the structure of a program at his institution. [I'm being vague here.] The program had become insanely complicated, needlessly increasing work without improving results. I expected him to defend the changes since he'd announced them but he sighed and said they were necessary to satisfy federal auditors.
You take their money and they call the tune.
I was initially going to say that the changes were to satisfy federal requirements but that may not be accurate. There can be a big difference between what is legally required and what is demanded by the people in the field. I've dealt with federal administrators and investigators for years. Most are decent people trying to do their job in a reasonable manner but more than a few are, to use an overused expression, beyond belief.
They know that the customers (or victims) are eager to get back to their main duties. That eagerness becomes a point of vulnerability. Auditors don't need to take you to court in order to make your life miserable. They just need to camp out on your porch and overwhelm you with information requests. Their power stems from the fact that they can disrupt operations and consume huge amounts of time.
It reminds me of the old play which was later made into a movie - "The Man Who Came to Dinner" - in which an arrogant guest comes to dinner, is injured, and then doesn't leave.
As for getting hooked on the money, a rock song may be more appropriate.
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