United States cabinet: Difference between revisions
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| '''[[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] || | | '''[[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] || | ||
* Responsible for the [[ | * Responsible for the [[U.S. Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]] | ||
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| '''[[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]] || | | '''[[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]] || |
Revision as of 18:07, 30 January 2009
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The United States cabinet is the most senior committee of the executive branch of the United States government. The cabinet is chaired by the President in his or her capacity as head of the executive branch. The portfolios of the other members of the cabinet are the most senior departments and agencies of the United States government.
In 1789 the newly created United States Congress created three cabinet departments, the United States War Department, the State Department, and the United States Treasury.[1]
Since then other departments and agencies have been created, so the current roster includes[2][3]:
The Constitution makes no mention of a "cabinet", although the 25th Amendment (1965) dealing with Presidential succession and disability does refer it with the phrase "the principal officers of the executive department," and some Federal statutes make similar references.
The President sometimes designates certain officials other than those listed above as having "Cabinet rank," a largely symbolic designation -- for example, the Vice-president, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Trade Representative, and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations are now, or have been in the past, "Cabinet-rank" officials. In formal protocol, the Vice President has higher status than any department head, and is coequal to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
There are legally designated groups, such as the National Security Council, that include both specified department heads, as well as certain other senior officials such as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (appointed without Senate confirmation), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (professional officer but confirmed by the Senate]], and the Director of Central Intelligence (appointed and confirmed; post supeceded by Director of National Intelligence).
References
- ↑ DOI history. Department of the Interior. Retrieved on 2007-11-17. mirror
- ↑ Ben's guide to the US Government: The President's Cabinet. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ↑ U.S. Government Officials & Departments. United States Embassy, London UK (November 1, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-17.