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v t e

The Cabinet of the United States is part of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. The Cabinet's role, inferred from the language of the Opinion Clause (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1) of the Constitution is to serve as an advisory body to the President of the United States. Additionally, the Twenty-fifth Amendment authorizes the Vice President, together with a majority of certain members of the Cabinet, to declare the president "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office". Among the senior officers of the Cabinet are the Vice President and the heads of the federal executive departments, all of whom—if eligible—are in the line of succession. Members of the Cabinet (except for the Vice President) serve at the pleasure of the President, who can dismiss them at will for no cause. All federal public officials, including Cabinet members, are also subject to impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate for "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors".

The President can also 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.

History

The tradition of the Cabinet arose out of the debates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention regarding whether the president would exercise executive authority singly or collaboratively with a cabinet of ministers or a privy council. As a result of the debates, the Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 1) vests "all executive power" in the president singly, and authorizes—but does not compel—the president (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1) to "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".^[1][2] The Constitution does not specify what the executive departments will be, how many there will be, or what their duties should be.

George Washington, the first U.S. President, organized his principal officers into a Cabinet, and it has been part of the executive branch structure ever since. Washington's Cabinet consisted of five members: himself, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Vice President John Adams was not included in Washington's Cabinet because the position was initially regarded as a legislative officer (President of the Senate).^[3] It was not until the 20th century that Vice Presidents were regularly included as members of the Cabinet and came to be regarded primarily as a member of the executive branch.

Presidents have used Cabinet meetings of selected principal officers but to widely differing extents and for different purposes. Secretary of State William H. Seward and then Professor Woodrow Wilson advocated use of a parliamentary-style Cabinet government. But President Abraham Lincoln rebuffed Seward, and Woodrow Wilson would have none of it in his administration. In recent administrations, Cabinets have grown to include key White House staff in addition to department and various agency heads. President Ronald Reagan formed seven subcabinet councils to review many policy issues, and subsequent Presidents have followed that practice.^[2]

Federal law

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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 the 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

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 January 2016, the Level I annual pay was set at $205,700.^[6]

The annual salary of the Vice President is $235,300.^[6] 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.^[7]

Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials

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 15 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 and not all of whom are Officers of the United States.^[8] 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

Office (Constituting instrument)	Incumbent	Took office
Vice President (Constitution, Art. II, Sec. I)	Mike Pence	January 20, 2017
Secretary of State (22 U.S.C. § 2651a)	Mike Pompeo	April 26, 2018
Secretary of the Treasury (31 U.S.C. § 301)	Steven Mnuchin	February 13, 2017
Secretary of Defense (10 U.S.C. § 113)	James Mattis	January 20, 2017
Attorney General (28 U.S.C. § 503)	Jeff Sessions	February 9, 2017
Secretary of the Interior (43 U.S.C. § 1451)	Ryan Zinke	March 1, 2017
Secretary of Agriculture (7 U.S.C. § 2202)	Sonny Perdue	April 25, 2017
Secretary of Commerce (15 U.S.C. § 1501)	Wilbur Ross	February 28, 2017
Secretary of Labor (29 U.S.C. § 551)	Alex Acosta	April 28, 2017
Secretary of Health and Human Services (Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953, 67 Stat. 631 and 42 U.S.C. § 3501)	Alex Azar	January 29, 2018
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (42 U.S.C. § 3532)	Ben Carson	March 2, 2017
Secretary of Transportation (49 U.S.C. § 102)	Elaine Chao	January 31, 2017
Secretary of Energy (42 U.S.C. § 7131)	Rick Perry	March 2, 2017
Secretary of Education (20 U.S.C. § 3411)	Betsy DeVos	February 7, 2017
Secretary of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. § 303)	Robert Wilkie	July 30, 2018
Secretary of Homeland Security (6 U.S.C. § 112)	Kirstjen Nielsen	December 6, 2017

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)	John F. Kelly	July 31, 2017
Trade Representative (19 U.S.C. § 2171)	Robert Lighthizer	May 15, 2017
Director of National Intelligence[9][10] (50 U.S.C. § 3023)	Dan Coats	March 16, 2017
Ambassador to the United Nations (22 U.S.C. § 287, Executive Order 9844, Executive Order 10108)	Nikki Haley	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)	Mick Mulvaney	February 16, 2017
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency[9] (50 U.S.C. § 3036)	Gina Haspel	April 26, 2018
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (5 U.S.C. § 906, Executive Order 11735)	Andrew Wheeler (acting)	July 9, 2018
Administrator of the Small Business Administration (15 U.S.C. § 633)	Linda McMahon	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, an independent agency.


• 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.^[11]


• 
  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,^[12] and dropped from Cabinet rank in 2001.^[13]


• 
  Director of Central Intelligence (1995–2001)^[14][15][16]


• Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (1993–2009)^[17][18]


• 
  Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (2009–2017)^[19][20]

Proposed Cabinet 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.^[21]


• "Department of Natural Resources", proposed by the Eisenhower administration,^[22] President Richard Nixon,^[23] the 1976 GOP national platform,^[24] and by Bill Daley (as a consolidation of the Departments of the Interior and Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency).^[25]


• "Department of Peace", proposed by Senator Matthew Neely in the 1930s, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and other members of the U.S. Congress.^[26][27]


• "Department of Social Welfare", proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.^[28]


• "Department of Public Works", proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.^[28]


• "Department of Conservation" (renamed Department of Interior) proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in January 1937.^[28]


• "Department of Urban Affairs and Housing", proposed by President John F. Kennedy.^[29]


• "Department of Business and Labor", proposed by President Lyndon Johnson.^[30]


• "Department of Community Development", proposed by President Richard Nixon; to be chiefly concerned with rural infrastructure development.^[23][31]


• "Department of Human Resources" proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a revised Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.^[23]


• "Department of Economic Affairs" proposed by President Richard Nixon; essentially a consolidation of the Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture.^[32]


• "Department of Environmental Protection", proposed by Senator Arlen Specter and others.^[33]


• "Department of Intelligence", proposed by former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.^[34]


• "Department of Global Development", proposed by the Center for Global Development.^[35]


• "Department of Arts", proposed by Quincy Jones.^[36]


• "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.^[37][38]


• "Department of Education and the Workforce" proposed by President Donald Trump as a consolidation of the Departments of Education and Labor. ^[39]

Gallery

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  James K. Polk and his Cabinet in 1846. The first Cabinet to be photographed.
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Taylor and his Cabinet
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Buchanan and his Cabinet
  

  
  

  
  


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  Abraham Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft (July 26, 1862).
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Cleveland and his first Cabinet
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Cleveland and his second Cabinet
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Theodore Roosevelt's Cabinet
  

  
  

  
  


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  President William H. Taft's second cabinet, 1912
  (photographed by Harris & Ewing photo studio)
  

  
  

  
  


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  The Nixon Cabinet, 1969
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Gerald R. Ford meeting with his Cabinet (June 25, 1976)
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Jimmy Carter's Cabinet meeting (February 13, 1978)
  

  
  

  
  


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  President Reagan and his Cabinet (September 11, 1986)
  

  
  

  
  


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  President George H. W. Bush and his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room (September 5, 1989).
  

  
  

  
  


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  The Clinton Cabinet, in 1993.
  

  
  

  
  


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  The Bush Cabinet (February 2008).
  

  
  

  
  


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  The first Obama Cabinet (September 2009).
  

  
  

  
  

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

References

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Cabinet.

• 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)