Still there's something about having "sacks of cash on the table" corruption being somewhat taboo. I'm also under the impression that careers in federal politics being a full employment systems for family and friends is something which is getting more and more normalized, but that's just a vibe.
Local corruption/patronage can at least have some genuine benefits. At the federal level? Don't think so! Part of the New Democrat/Goo Goo movement was that local governments were too corrupt (run by Those People, sometimes, even) so it was best to transfer as much as possible to the federal government, where their pure incorruptible friends could run everything and I don't think that has worked out very well.
Not that I think local governments are always good, of course, just that federal oversight/authority as an anti-corruption measure was perhaps not so clever! Technocracy!