United States federal executive departments
{{Short description|Primary unit of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States}}
{{Redirect|Executive Department|text=For the idea of executive departments in general, see Cabinet (government).}}
{{Politics of the United States}}
The United States federal executive departments are the principal units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. They are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary or semi-presidential systems but (the United States being a presidential system) they are led by a head of government who is also the head of state. The executive departments are the administrative arms of the president of the United States. There are currently 15 executive departments.
Overview
=Structure=
Each department is headed by a secretary whose title echoes the title of their respective department, with the exception of the Department of Justice, whose head is known as the attorney general. The heads of the executive departments are appointed by the president and take office after confirmation by the United States Senate, and serve at the pleasure of the president. The heads of departments are members of the Cabinet of the United States, an executive organ that normally acts as an advisory body to the president. In the Opinion Clause (Article II, section 2, clause 1) of the U.S. Constitution, heads of executive departments are referred to as "principal Officer in each of the executive Departments".
The heads of executive departments are included in the line of succession to the president, in the event of a vacancy in the presidency, after the vice president, the speaker of the House, and the president pro tempore of the Senate. They are included in order of their respective department's formation, with the exception of the secretary of defense, whose position in the line of succession is based on when the Department of War was formed.
=Separation of powers=
To enforce a strong separation of powers, the federal Constitution's Ineligibility Clause expressly prohibits executive branch employees (including heads of executive departments) from simultaneously serving in Congress, and vice versa. Accordingly, in sharp contrast to parliamentary systems where ministers are often selected to form a government from members of parliament,{{cite book |last1=Wexler |first1=Jay |authorlink1=Jay Wexler |title=The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions |date=2011 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |isbn=9780807000892 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=279vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |access-date=December 24, 2022}} U.S. legislators who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve as heads of executive departments must resign from Congress before assuming their new positions.{{cite book |last1=Wexler |first1=Jay |authorlink1=Jay Wexler |title=The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions |date=2011 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |isbn=9780807000892 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=279vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |access-date=December 24, 2022}} If the emoluments for a new appointee's executive branch position were increased while the appointee was previously serving in Congress (e.g., cost of living adjustments), the president must implement a Saxbe fix.{{cite book |last1=Wexler |first1=Jay |authorlink1=Jay Wexler |title=The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions |date=2011 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |isbn=9780807000892 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=279vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |access-date=December 24, 2022}}
=Contracting and grantmaking roles=
As is evident from the chart below, several executive departments (Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation) have disproportionately small employee headcounts in contrast to the size of their budgets. This is because many of their employees merely supervise contracts with private independent contractors or grants (especially categorical grants) to state or local government agencies who are primarily responsible for providing services directly to the general public. In the 20th century, when the federal government began to provide funding and supervision for matters which were historically seen as the domain of state governments (i.e., education, health and welfare services, housing, and transportation), Congress frequently authorized only funding for grants which were voluntary, in the sense that state or local government agencies could choose to apply for such grants (and accept conditions attached by Congress) or they could decline to apply.{{cite book |title=Federal Grants to State and Local Governments: A Historical Perspective on Contemporary Issues |date=May 22, 2019 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |location=Washington |pages=15–26 |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R40638.pdf |access-date=December 24, 2022}} CRS Report No. R40638. Version 27. In the case of HHS's Medicare program, Congress chose to contract with private health insurers because they "already possessed the requisite expertise for administering complex health insurance programs", and because American hospitals preferred to continue dealing with private insurers instead of a new federal bureaucracy.{{cite book |last1=Kinney |first1=Eleanor D. |title=The Affordable Care Act and Medicare in Comparative Context |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=9781316352618 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wudBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 |access-date=December 24, 2022}}
Current departments
Former departments
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center; width: 100%;" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" | Department
! scope="col" rowspan="2" data-sort-type="date" | Formed ! scope="col" rowspan="2" data-sort-type="date" | Removed from Cabinet ! scope="col" rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Superseded by ! scope="col" colspan="3" | Last Cabinet-level head |
|---|
| scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Titleholder |
| scope="row" | War
| August 7, 1789 | Department of the Army | {{sortname|Kenneth Claiborne|Royall}} |
| scope="row" | Navy
| April 30, 1798 | rowspan="3" | August 10, 1949 | rowspan="3" | Department of Defense | {{sortname|Francis P.|Matthews}} |
| scope="row" | Army
| rowspan="2" | September 18, 1947 | {{sortname|Gordon|Gray|dab=politician}} |
| scope="row" | Air Force
| {{sortname|Stuart|Symington}} |
| scope="row" | Post Office
| February 20, 1792 | United States Postal Service | {{sortname|Winton M.|Blount}} |
| scope="row" | Commerce and Labor
| February 14, 1903 | March 4, 1913 | Department of Commerce |Secretary of Commerce and Labor | {{sortname|Charles|Nagel}} |
| scope="row" | Health, Education, and Welfare
| April 11, 1953 | October 17, 1979 | Department of Education |Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare | {{sortname|Patricia Roberts|Harris}} |
Proposed departments
- 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{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1881/05/13/archives/a-department-of-commerce.html|title=A Department of Commerce|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1881-05-13}}
- Department of Natural Resources, proposed by the Eisenhower administration,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFiOK24ZASgC&q=Eisenhower+proposes+Department+of+Natural+Resources&pg=PA159|title=Improving Management and Organization in Federal Natural Resources and Environmental Functions: Hearing Before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, U. S. Senate|date=April 1, 1998|publisher=Diane Publishing|access-date=February 20, 2017|via=Google Books|quote=Chairman Stevens. Thank you very much. I think both of you are really pointing in the same direction as this Committee. I do hope we can keep it on a bipartisan basis. Mr. Dean, when I was at the Interior Department, I drafted Eisenhower's Department of Natural Resources proposal, and we have had a series of them that have been presented.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114195305/https://books.google.com/books?id=gFiOK24ZASgC&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=Eisenhower%20proposes%20Department%20of%20Natural%20Resources#v=onepage&q=Eisenhower%20proposes%20Department%20of%20Natural%20Resources|archive-date=January 14, 2019|url-status=live|isbn=9780788148743}} President Richard Nixon,{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2951|title=116 - Special Message to the Congress on Executive Branch Reorganization|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|quote=The administration is today transmitting to the Congress four bills which, if enacted, would replace seven of the present executive departments and several other agencies with four new departments: the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Community Development, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Economic Affairs.|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214101500/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2951|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}} the 1976 GOP national platform,{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25843|title=Republican Party Platform of 1976|date=August 18, 1976|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|access-date=March 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094440/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25843|archive-date=April 2, 2015|url-status=live}} and by Bill Daley (as a consolidation of the Departments of the Interior and Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency){{Cite web|author=Thrush, Glenn|title=Locked in the Cabinet|work=Politico|date=November 8, 2013|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/locked-in-the-cabinet-99374_Page3.html|access-date=November 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117102623/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/locked-in-the-cabinet-99374_Page3.html|archive-date=November 17, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
- Department of Peace, proposed by Senator Matthew Neely in the 1930s, Congressman Dennis Kucinich in the 2000s, and other members of the U.S. Congress{{cite book | last = Schuman | first = Frederick L. | title = Why a Department of Peace | publisher = Another Mother for Peace | year = 1969 | location = Beverly Hills | pages = 56 | oclc = 339785 | df = mdy-all }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/54/130/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720174929/http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/54/130/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-07-20|title=History of Legislation to Create a Dept. of Peace}}
- Department of Social Welfare, proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1937{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15342|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|title=10 - Summary of the Report of the Committee on Administrative Management|quote=Overhaul the more than 100 separate departments, boards, commissions, administrations, authorities, corporations, committees, agencies and activities which are now parts of the Executive Branch, and theoretically under the President, and consolidate them within twelve regular departments, which would include the existing ten departments and two new departments, a Department of Social Welfare, and a Department of Public Works. Change the name of the Department of Interior to Department of Conservation.|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213164512/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15342|archive-date=February 13, 2017|url-status=live}}
- Department of Public Works, proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1937
- Department of Conservation (renamed Department of the Interior), proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1937
- Department of Urban Affairs and Housing, proposed by President John F. Kennedy{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8699|title=23 - Special Message to the Congress Transmitting Reorganization Plan 1 of 1962|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002721/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8699|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}}
- Department of Business and Labor, proposed by President Lyndon B. Johnson{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28141|title=121 - Special Message to the Congress: The Quality of American Government|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|quote=In my State of the Union Address, and later in my Budget and Economic Messages to the Congress, I proposed the creation of a new Department of Business and Labor.|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002341/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28141|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}}
- Department of Community Development, proposed by President Richard Nixon; to be chiefly concerned with rural infrastructure development{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3608|title=33 - Special Message to the Congress on Rural Development|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214002722/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3608|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}}
- Department of Human Resources, proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a revised Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
- Department of Economic Affairs, proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a consolidation of the Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture.{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2951|title=116 - Special Message to the Congress on Executive Branch Reorganization|work=The University of California, Santa Barbara - The American Presidency Project|quote=The new Department of Economic Affairs would include many of the offices that are now within the Departments of Commerce, Labor and Agriculture. A large part of the Department of Transportation would also be relocated here, including the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Railroad Administration, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Systems Center, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Motor Carrier Safety Bureau and most of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Small Business Administration, the Science Information Exchange program from the Smithsonian Institution, the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Office of Technology Utilization from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would also be included in the new Department.|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214101500/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=2951|archive-date=February 14, 2017|url-status=live}}
- Department of Environmental Protection, proposed by Senator Arlen Specter and others{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Notebook/Note_02-RMSP3.htm|title=Public Notes on 02-RMSP3|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613094946/http://www.ontheissues.org/Notebook/Note_02-RMSP3.htm|archive-date=June 13, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
- Department of Intelligence, proposed by former director of national intelligence Mike McConnell{{Cite web| title = A Conversation with Michael McConnell| work=Council on Foreign Relations (Federal News Service, rush transcript)| date = June 29, 2007| url = http://www.cfr.org/intelligence/conversation-michael-mcconnell-rush-transcript-federal-news-service/p13703| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117042421/http://www.cfr.org/intelligence/conversation-michael-mcconnell-rush-transcript-federal-news-service/p13703| url-status = dead| archive-date = January 17, 2013| access-date =January 9, 2013}}
- Department of Global Development, proposed by the Center for Global Development{{cite web|url=https://www.cgdev.org/article/time-cabinet-level-us-department-global-development|title=Time for a Cabinet-Level U.S. Department of Global Development|work=The Center for Global Development|access-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114195305/https://www.cgdev.org/article/time-cabinet-level-us-department-global-development|archive-date=January 14, 2019|url-status=live}}
- Department of Art, proposed by Quincy Jones{{Cite magazine| author = Clarke, John Jr.| title = Quincy Jones Lobbies Obama for Secretary of Culture Post| magazine = Rolling Stone| date = January 16, 2009| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/15765/90864| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120908204104/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/15765/90864| url-status = dead| archive-date = September 8, 2012| access-date = August 19, 2010}}
- 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{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/13/president-obama-announces-proposal-reform-reorganize-and-consolidate-gov|title=President Obama Announces proposal to reform, reorganize and consolidate Government|access-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080315/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/13/president-obama-announces-proposal-reform-reorganize-and-consolidate-gov|archive-date=February 11, 2017|url-status=live|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/10/29/obama-suggests-secretary-of-business-in-a-second-term/|work=The Wall Street Journal|author-first1=Carol E.|author-last1=Lee|date=29 October 2012|title=Obama Suggests 'Secretary of Business' in a 2nd Term - Washington Wire - WSJ|access-date=August 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301053228/http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/10/29/obama-suggests-secretary-of-business-in-a-second-term/|archive-date=March 1, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
- Department of Commerce and the Workforce, a merger of the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor proposed in 2011 and 2013 by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) in {{USBill|112|S|1116}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.burr.senate.gov/press/releases/burr-cuts-wasteful-spending-improves-efficiency-by-combining-dept-of-labor-and-commerce|title=Burr Cuts Wasteful Spending, Improves Efficiency by Combining Dept. of Labor and Commerce {{!}} U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina|website=www.burr.senate.gov|date=17 December 2013|language=en|access-date=2019-07-12|archive-date=2019-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712151506/https://www.burr.senate.gov/press/releases/burr-cuts-wasteful-spending-improves-efficiency-by-combining-dept-of-labor-and-commerce|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1116/actions_votes|title=S.1116: Actions & Votes|access-date=November 10, 2011}}
- Department of Education and the Workforce, proposed by President Donald Trump as a consolidation of the Departments of Education and Labor{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/06/21/622189097/white-house-proposes-merging-education-and-labor-departments|title=White House Proposes Merging Education And Labor Departments|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-06-22|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621234348/https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/06/21/622189097/white-house-proposes-merging-education-and-labor-departments|archive-date=June 21, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
- Department of Health and Public Welfare, proposed by President Donald Trump as a renamed Department of Health and Human Services{{Cite web|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Government-Reform-and-Reorg-Plan.pdf|title=Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century {{!}} Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations|date=2018|website=whitehouse.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412132813/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Government-Reform-and-Reorg-Plan.pdf|archive-date=April 12, 2019|url-status=live}}
- Department of Economic Development, proposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren to replace the Commerce Department, subsume other agencies like the Small Business Administration and the Patent and Trademark Office, and include research and development programs, worker training programs, and export and trade authorities like the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative with the single goal of creating and defending good American jobs{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@teamwarren/a-plan-for-economic-patriotism-13b879f4cfc7|title=A Plan For Economic Patriotism|last=Warren|first=Team|date=2019-06-04|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2019-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731023456/https://medium.com/@teamwarren/a-plan-for-economic-patriotism-13b879f4cfc7|archive-date=July 31, 2019|url-status=live}}
- Department of Technology, proposed by businessman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang{{Cite web|url=https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulating-ai-emerging-technologies/|title=Regulate AI and other Emerging Technologies|website=Andrew Yang for President|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820174006/https://www.yang2020.com/policies/regulating-ai-emerging-technologies/|archive-date=August 20, 2019|url-status=live}}
- Department of Culture, patterned on similar departments in many foreign nations, proposed by, among others, Murray Moss{{Cite web|last=Garber|first=Megan|date=2013-07-01|title=Should the U.S. Have a Secretary of Culture?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/should-the-us-have-a-secretary-of-culture/277409/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}} and Jeva Lange{{Cite web|date=2020-11-16|title=Hey Joe – appoint a culture secretary|url=https://theweek.com/articles/949759/hey-joe--appoint-culture-secretary|access-date=2021-01-22|website=theweek.com|language=en}}
- Department of Government Efficiency, proposed by President Donald Trump. Established as a presidential advisory commission during Trump's second presidency, headed by Elon Musk.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-14 |title=What is DOGE? Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency led by Musk and Ramaswamy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-ramaswamy-trump-cabinet-doge-b2647323.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}
See also
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist|40em}}
=Sources=
{{refbegin}}
- Relyea, Harold C. [https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/13385.pdf "Homeland Security: Department Organization and Management"] (PDF), Report for Congress, 2002. RL31493 (August 7, 2002).
{{refend}}