CH. 15-3 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTSADVANCED AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS “the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to

produce a good administration.”—Alexander Hamilton (Federalist #76)

Much of the work in government is done by 15 cabinet-level executive departments

Original (1789): State, War, Treasury

As the workload grew, more departments were created

CHIEF OFFICERS AND STAFF

Each department is headed by a SECRETARY except Justice whose leader is the ATTORNEY GENERAL

Each department has an under secretary and assistant secretaries to aid the Secretary

SUBUNITS

Each department is divided up into subunits and those subunits are divided up further

Example: Veterans Health Administration is a part of the Department of Veterans Affairs

This organization provides medical care to eligible veterans at over 150 medical centers and over 800 outpatient clinics

THE DEPARTMENTS TODAY

Department of State is the oldest and smallest department with about 25,000 employees

The Department of Defense is the largest with 670,000 civilian employees and 1.4 million people in uniform

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the largest budget (about ¼ of all federal spending)

The Department of Homeland Security is the newest, having been created in 2002.

(Chart p. 426-427)

THE CABINET

CABINET—informal advisory body brought together by the President to serve his needs.

Not created by the Constitution or Congress

1789—Four top-level executive posts

Secretary of State—Thomas Jefferson

Secretary of the Treasury—Alexander Hamilton

Secretary of War—Henry Knox

Attorney General—Edmund Randolph

By tradition, the heads of the 15 executive departments form the Cabinet

Additional Cabinet members—OMB Director, Chief Domestic Policy Advisor

Also attending: Vice President, White House Counselor, WH Chief of Staff, US Trade Representative, National Drug Policy Director, EPA administrator

CHOOSING CABINET MEMBERSPresident appoints people and the Senate must approve

the appointmentsAppointments have been made based on a person’s role in

a president campaignUsually a person’s qualifications to do a particular job are

taken into account as wellGender, race, management abilities and experience are

also considered

WOMEN AND MINORITIESFirst women—Frances T. (“Ma”) Perkins—Labor—1933-

1945 (appointed by FDR)First African American—Robert C. Weaver—HUD—1966-

1969 (appointed by LBJ)First Hispanic—Lauro F. Cavazos—Education—1988

(appointed by Reagan)

More women and minorities have been chosen for the cabinet since the 1980’s

THE CABINET’S ROLE

Two major roles for the Cabinet members:

1) Individually—administrative head of their department

2) Together—advisors to the President

The amount of influence the Cabinet has depends on the President

President Lincoln once made a proposal to his seven-member Cabinet and all members opposed it

The President then replied, “Seven nays, one aye: the ayes have it.”

President William Howard Taft suggested that if the president desired to eliminate the Cabinet he could do so.

No President has suggested eliminating the Cabinet

Presidents have in the past relied more heavily on a more informal group of advisors instead of the Cabinet

THE END