Everything about The United States Cabinet totally explained
The
United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet") is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the
executive branch of the
federal government of the United States, and its existence dates back to the first
American President (
George Washington), who appointed a Cabinet of four people (
Secretary of State,
Thomas Jefferson;
Secretary of the Treasury,
Alexander Hamilton;
Secretary of War,
Henry Knox; and
Attorney General,
Edmund Randolph) to advise and assist him in his duties. Cabinet officers are nominated by the President and then presented to the
United States Senate for
confirmation or rejection by a
simple majority. If approved, they're
sworn in and begin their duties. Aside from the Attorney General, and previously, the
Postmaster General, they all receive the title
Secretary.
Constitutional and legal basis
Constitutional references
Article Two of the Constitution provides that the President can require "the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." The Constitution didn't then establish the names (or list or limit the number) of Cabinet departments; those details were left to the
Congress to determine.
Later, upon addition of the
25th Amendment to the Constitution, a provision was created allowing that the
Vice President and "a majority of the principal officers" of the executive branch departments may transmit a notice (to the
Speaker of the House and the
Senate President Pro tempore) that the President is unfit for office. If the President contests this finding, the Congress is directed to settle the matter.
United States Cabinet nominees are chosen from a large pool of potential candidates. One of the few qualification restrictions is set out in
Article One of the Constitution: "no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in office." Accordingly, a sitting member of the
United States Congress must resign his seat before accepting a Cabinet appointment. Likewise, a governor appointed to a cabinet position must also resign his or her seat. This constitutional separation between the executive and the legislative branches is distinct from the British parliamentary cabinet system, where a cabinet appointee may serve simultaneously as a member of the legislature and the Cabinet.
The Cabinet in federal law
There is no explicit definition of the term "Cabinet" in either the
United States Code or the
Code of Federal Regulations. However, there are occasional references to "cabinet-level officers" or "secretaries", which when viewed in context appear to refer to the heads of the "executive departments" as listed in .
Under federal officials are prohibited from appointing family members to certain governmental posts, including seats on the Cabinet. Passed in 1967, the law is apparently a response to
John F. Kennedy's appointment of
Robert F. Kennedy to the post of Attorney General of the United States. For example, if
Hillary Clinton is elected president in 2008,
Bill Clinton would be unable to serve in her cabinet.
Significance
Recent decline in influence
Though the Cabinet is still an important organ of bureaucratic management, in recent years, the Cabinet has generally declined in relevance as a policy making body. Starting with President
Franklin Roosevelt, the trend has been for Presidents to act through the
Executive Office of the President or the
National Security Council rather than through the Cabinet. This has created a situation in which non-Cabinet officials such as the
White House Chief of Staff, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the
National Security Advisor are now as powerful as or more powerful than some Cabinet officials.
Traditionally, the
Secretary of State, the
Secretary of the Treasury, the
Secretary of Defense, and the
Attorney General are the most important members of Cabinet, and form an inner circle. In recent years, the
Secretary of Homeland Security has risen to a level of significance that's arguably closer to the "
big four" than to the other cabinet offices.
During a meeting of the President's Cabinet, members are seated according to the
order of precedence, with higher ranking officers sitting closer to the center of the table. Hence, the President and Vice President sit directly across from each other at the middle of the oval shaped table. Then, the Secretaries of State and Defense are seated directly to the right and left, respectively, of the President and the Secretary of Treasury and the Attorney General sit to right and left, respectively, of the Vice President. This alternation according to rank continues, with Cabinet-rank members (those not heading executive departments; the Vice President excluded) sitting at the very ends, farthest away from the president and vice president.
Line of succession
The Cabinet is also important in the
presidential line of succession, which determines an order in which Cabinet officers succeed to the office of the president following the death or resignation of the
Vice President,
Speaker of the House and the
President pro tempore of the Senate. Because of this, it's common practice not to have the entire Cabinet in one location, even for ceremonial occasions like the
State of the Union Address, where at least one Cabinet member doesn't attend. This person is the
designated survivor, and they're held at a secure, undisclosed location, ready to take over if the President, Vice President, and the rest of the Cabinet are killed.
Current Cabinet
Pending Nominations
SBA Administrator
Steve Preston has been nominated to succeed
Alphonso Jackson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who resigned effective April 18, 2008. Deputy Secretary
Roy Bernardi will serve as Acting Secretary pending Preston's confirmation.
Cabinet-level administration offices
Six positions have cabinet-level rank, which allows these individuals to attend Cabinet meetings without being Secretaries of Executive Departments. They are:
Level I of the Executive Schedule
Level I of the Executive Schedule is the pay grade for cabinet officials. In addition to the fifteen cabinet secretaries, six positions are listed in the Level I, of which only three (Director of the OMB, Director of the National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Trade Representative) have cabinet-level positions. The remaining three are:
Former Cabinet positions
From 1789 to 1947, the duties of the Secretary of Defense were instead handled by Cabinet-level positions of the Secretary of War (1789–1947) and the Secretary of the Navy (1798–1947).
From 1829 to 1971, the Post Office Department was a Cabinet-level executive agency and thus the Postmaster General was a Cabinet officer.
From 1903 to 1913, the duties of the current Secretaries of Commerce and Labor were held by a single Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
From 1953 to 1979, the duties of the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services were united as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Under some administrations, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations was allowed to sit in for cabinet meetings.
Proposed Cabinet departments
U.S. Department of Commerce and Industry (proposed by business interests in the 1880s)
U.S. Department of Agriculture and Labor (proposed by members of U.S. Congress)
U.S. Department of Public Welfare (proposed by President Warren Harding)
U.S. Department of Natural Resources (proposed by former President Herbert Hoover, the Eisenhower administration, President Richard Nixon and the GOP national platform in 1976)
U.S. Department of Peace (proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt and Congressman Dennis Kucinich)
U.S. Department of Social Welfare (proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt)
U.S. Department of Public Works (proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt)
U.S. Department of Conservation (proposed by Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes)
U.S. Department of Urban Affairs (proposed by President John F. Kennedy)
U.S. Department of Business and Labor (proposed by President Lyndon Johnson)
U.S. Department of Human Resources (proposed by President Richard Nixon)
U.S. Department of Community Development (proposed by President Richard Nixon)
U.S. Department of Economic Development (proposed by President Richard Nixon)
U.S. Department of Environmental Protection (proposed by Republican Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter)
U.S. Department of International Trade (proposed by the Heritage Foundation)
Lists of Cabinets
See: List of United States CabinetsFurther Information
Get more info on 'United States Cabinet'.
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