I feel your pain. Having spent 3 decades in the federal bureaucracy I can let you in on a secret. Although it's big the fed. govt is broken up into zillions of little departments that all operate under their own set of administrative rules. These guys can decide to create a form over a cup of coffee. It's easy, afterall this is *important*. The No.1 priority of the department serfs is career security. There are guys who have no other ambition than to come to work every day for 30 years and s..l..o..w..l..y process the same paperwork time after time after time. The payoff is an airtight retirement package.
Believe me, the incompetence and lack of ambition cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, the victims are us. The solution: cut the fed budget in half across the board and contract out anything left that is not inherently government, e.g., defense, law enforcement. Introduce competition for this busy work and you'll see it improve. Right now it is a monopoly that is being protected with tooth and nail infighting.
I'm so glad to be out of that environment....but really enjoying the retirement package.