Cabinet of the United States
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The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the government serving under the President. Among those are the Vice President and the heads of the federal executive departments, all of whom are by federal law (3 U.S.C. § 19) in the line of succession to the presidency and have duties under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Aside from the Attorney General (and the Postmaster General back when it headed an executive department), the heads of the executive departments all receive the title of Secretary.
In addition, the President can by custom unilaterally designate senior White House staffers, heads of other federal agencies and the Ambassador to the United Nations as members of the Cabinet, although this is a symbolic status marker and does not, apart from attending cabinet meetings, confer any additional powers such as mentioned above.
All members of the Cabinet (except for the Vice President, who is elected under the same procedures as the President) serve at the pleasure of the President, who can dismiss them at will for no cause.
Contents
Background
There is no explicit definition of the term "Cabinet" in the United States Constitution, the United States Code, or the Code of Federal Regulations. The name comes from a 17th-century usage for a private room where advisers would meet, which developed into the modern sense of a council of advisers.[1]
The notion of a Cabinet dates back to the first President, George Washington, who appointed a Cabinet of four men to advise him and to assist him in carrying out his duties (his cabinet also included Vice President John Adams):
- Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson
- Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
- Secretary of War Henry Knox
- Attorney General Edmund Randolph
In the Constitution and federal law
The term "principal Officer in each of the executive Departments" is mentioned in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, and the term "Heads of Departments" is mentioned in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution. The term "principal officers of the executive departments" is also mentioned in the Twenty-fifth Amendment, Section 4. The executive departments are listed in 5 U.S.C. § 101. Although there are occasional references to "Cabinet-level officers," which when viewed in their context do refer to these "principal officers" and "heads of departments," the terms "principal officers" and "heads of departments" are not necessarily synonymous with "Cabinet" members.
In 3 U.S.C. § 302 with regard to delegation of authority by the President, it is provided that "nothing herein shall be deemed to require express authorization in any case in which such an official would be presumed in law to have acted by authority or direction of the President." This pertains directly to the heads of the executive departments as each of their offices is created and specified by statutory law (hence the presumption) and thus gives them the authority to act for the President within their areas of responsibility without any specific delegation.
Under the 1967 Federal Anti-Nepotism statute, federal officials are prohibited from appointing their immediate family members to certain governmental positions, including those in the Cabinet.[2]
Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, an incoming administration may appoint acting heads of department from employees of the relevant department. These may be existing high-level career employees, from political appointees of the outgoing administration, or sometimes lower-level appointees of the incoming administration.[3]
Confirmation process
The heads of the executive departments and all other federal agency heads are nominated by the President and then presented to the Senate for confirmation or rejection by a simple majority (although, before use of the "nuclear option" during the 113th US Congress, they could have been blocked by filibuster, requiring cloture to be invoked by 3⁄5 supermajority to further consideration). If approved, they receive their commission scroll, are sworn in and then begin their duties.
An elected Vice President does not require Senate confirmation, nor does the White House Chief of Staff, which is an appointed staff position of the Executive Office of the President.
Salary
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The heads of the executive departments and most other senior federal officers at cabinet or sub-cabinet level receive their salary under a fixed five level pay plan known as the Executive Schedule, which is codified in Title 5 of the United States Code. 21 positions, including the heads of the executive departments and others, receiving Level I pay are listed in 5 U.S.C. § 5312, and those 46 positions on Level II pay (including the number two positions of the executive departments) are listed in 5 U.S.C. § 5313. As of 2015, Level I annual pay, was set at $203,700.[4]
The annual salary of the Vice President is $235,300.[4] The salary level was set by the Government Salary Reform Act of 1989, which also provides an automatic cost of living adjustment for federal employees. The Vice President does not automatically receive a pension based on that office, but instead receives the same pension as other members of Congress based on his ex officio position as President of the Senate.[5]
Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials
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The individuals listed below were nominated by President Donald Trump to form his Cabinet and were confirmed by the United States Senate on the date noted, or are serving as acting department heads by his request pending the confirmation of his nominees. For a full list of people nominated for Cabinet positions, see Formation of Donald Trump's Cabinet.
Vice President and the heads of the executive departments
The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments, listed here according to their order of succession to the Presidency. These 16 positions are the core "cabinet member" seats, as distinct from other Cabinet-level seats for other various top level White House staffers and heads of other government agencies, none of whom are in the presidential line of succession.[6] Note that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate follow the Vice President and precede the Secretary of State in the order of succession, but both are in the legislative branch and are not part of the Cabinet.
Cabinet-level officials
The following officials hold positions that are considered to be Cabinet-level positions. Cabinet-level officials attend Cabinet meetings, but are not official Cabinet Members:
Cabinet-level Officials | ||
---|---|---|
Office | Incumbent | Term began |
White House Chief of Staff (Pub.L. 76–19, 53 Stat. 561, enacted April 3, 1939, Executive Order 8248, Executive Order 10452, Executive Order 12608) |
100px |
January 20, 2017 |
Trade Representative (19 U.S.C. § 2171) |
March 2, 2017 | |
Director of National Intelligence[7][8] (50 U.S.C. § 3023) |
100px |
March 16, 2017 |
75px Ambassador to the United Nations (22 U.S.C. § 287, Executive Order 9844, Executive Order 10108) |
January 27, 2017 | |
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (31 U.S.C. § 502, Executive Order 11541, Executive Order 11609, Executive Order 11717) |
100px |
February 16, 2017 |
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency[7] (50 U.S.C. § 3036) |
January 23, 2017 | |
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (5 U.S.C. § 906, Executive Order 11735) |
100px |
February 17, 2017 |
Administrator of the Small Business Administration (15 U.S.C. § 633) |
100px | February 14, 2017 |
Former executive and Cabinet-level departments
- Department of War (1789–1947), headed by the Secretary of War: renamed Department of the Army by the National Security Act of 1947.
- Department of the Navy (1798–1949), headed by the Secretary of the Navy: became a military department within the Department of Defense.
- Post Office Department (1829–1971), headed by the Postmaster General: reorganized as the United States Postal Service, a government corporation.
- National Military Establishment (1947-1949), headed by the Secretary of Defense: created by the National Security Act of 1947 and recreated as the Department of Defense in 1949.
- Department of the Army (1947–1949), headed by the Secretary of the Army: became a military department within the Department of Defense.
- Department of the Air Force (1947–1949), headed by the Secretary of the Air Force: became a military department within the Department of Defense.
Renamed heads of the executive departments
- Secretary of Foreign Affairs: created in July 1781 and renamed Secretary of State in September 1789.[9]
- Secretary of War: created in 1789 and was renamed as Secretary of the Army by the National Security Act of 1947. The 1949 Amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 made the Secretary of the Army a subordinate to the Secretary of Defense.
- Secretary of Commerce and Labor: created in 1903 and renamed Secretary of Commerce in 1913 when its labor functions were transferred to the new Secretary of Labor.
- Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare: created in 1953 and renamed Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1979 when its education functions were transferred to the new Secretary of Education.
Other positions no longer of Cabinet rank
- Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (1996–2001): created as an independent agency in 1979, raised to Cabinet rank in 1996,[10] and dropped from Cabinet rank in 2001.[11]
- Director of Central Intelligence (1995–2001)[12][13][14]
- Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (1993–2009)[15][16]
- Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (2009–2017)[17][18]
Proposed Cabinet departments
- "Department of Commerce" or "Department of Industry and Commerce", proposed by Secretary of the Treasury William Windom in a speech given at a Chamber of Commerce dinner in May 1881.[19]
- "Department of Natural Resources", proposed by the Eisenhower administration,[20] President Richard Nixon,[21] the 1976 GOP national platform,[22] and by Bill Daley (as a consolidation of the Departments of the Interior and Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency).[23]
- "Department of Peace", proposed by Senator Matthew Neely in the 1930s, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and other members of the U.S. Congress.[24][25]
- "Department of Social Welfare", proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.[26]
- "Department of Public Works", proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.[26]
- "Department of Conservation" (renamed Department of Interior) proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.[26]
- "Department of Urban Affairs and Housing", proposed by President John F. Kennedy.[27]
- "Department of Business and Labor", proposed by President Lyndon Johnson.[28]
- "Department of Community Development", proposed by President Richard Nixon; to be chiefly concerned with rural infrastructure development.[21][29]
- "Department of Human Resources" proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a revised Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.[21]
- "Department of Economic Affairs" proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a consolidation of the Departments of Commerce, Labor and Agriculture.[30]
- "Department of Environmental Protection", proposed by Senator Arlen Specter and others.[31]
- "Department of Intelligence", proposed by former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.[32]
- "Department of Global Development", proposed by the Center for Global Development.[33]
- "Department of Arts", proposed by Quincy Jones.[34]
- "Department of Business", proposed by President Barack Obama as a consolidation of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.[35][36]
Gallery
-
James K. Polk and his Cabinet in 1846. The first Cabinet to be photographed.
-
Abraham Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft (July 26, 1862).
-
President Theodore Roosevelt's Cabinet
-
President William H. Taft's second cabinet, 1912
(photographed by Harris & Ewing photo studio) -
The Nixon Cabinet, 1969
-
The Clinton Cabinet, in 1993.
-
The Bush Cabinet (February 2008).
-
The first Obama Cabinet (September 2009).
-
Donald Trump Cabinet meeting 2017-03-13 01.jpg
The Partially Confirmed Trump Cabinet (March 13, 2017)
See also
- Black Cabinet
- Brain trust
- Cabinet of the Confederate States of America
- Kitchen Cabinet
- List of African-American United States Cabinet Secretaries
- List of female United States Cabinet Secretaries
- List of foreign-born United States Cabinet Secretaries
- List of living former members of the United States Cabinet
- List of people who have held multiple United States Cabinet-level positions
- List of United States Cabinet members who have served more than eight years
- List of United States political appointments that crossed party lines
- St. Wapniacl (historical mnemonic acronym)
- Unsuccessful nominations to the Cabinet of the United States
For navigational boxes containing the names of members of each President's Cabinet, see:
References
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Further reading
- Bennett, Anthony. The American President's Cabinet. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 1996. ISBN 0-333-60691-4. A study of the U.S. Cabinet from Kennedy to Clinton.
- Grossman, Mark. Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO; three volumes, 2000; reprint, New York: Greyhouse Publishing; two volumes, 2010). A history of the United States and Confederate States Cabinets, their secretaries, and their departments.
- Rudalevige, Andrew. "The President and the Cabinet", in Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, 8th ed. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006).
External links
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- Official site of the President's Cabinet
- U.S. Senate's list of Cabinet members who did not attend the State of the Union Address (since 1984)
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