The Executive Branch
The executive branch is responsible for carrying out and enforcing the law. It includes the president, vice president, the Cabinet, executive departments (including the military), independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, and committees.
The President
The President, through federal agencies, creates and implements domestic and foreign policy. Although the President can issue executive orders and is empowered to make international treaties, the executive branch does not have lawmaking as a primary function. Congress and the Supreme Court may modify or override much of the lawmaking of the executive branch. Presidential actions, whether they are executive orders or Presidential Directions, must be consistent with the Constitution and other laws enacted by Congress.
As stated in Article II of the Constitution, the requirements for serving as president are:
1) They must be at least 35 years old.
2) They must be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
3) They must have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.
The Vice President
The vice president holds the second-highest office in the executive branch, and is also an officer in the legislative branch as president of the Senate. While the vice president presides over the Senate, he or she may only vote in the occurrence of a tied vote. The vice president is also a Cabinet member and first in the presidential line of succession. Unlike the president, the vice president can serve an unlimited number of four-year terms, even under different presidents.
Learn more about the Vice President:
What Does the Vice President Do? - Youtube
History Behind the Vice President
Vice President’s Role in the Senate According to the Constitution
Line of Presidential Succession
The Presidential Succession Law of 1947 addressed the simultaneous disability of both the president and vice president. Under this law, there are current office holders who would become president should both the president and vice president become unable to serve. To assume the presidency, a person must also meet all the legal requirements to serve as president.
Order of presidential succession, and office holder
Vice President: Kamala Harris
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nancy Pelosi
President pro tempore of the Senate: Patrick Leahy
Presidental cabinet
Presidential Cabinet
The first cabinet, implemented by George Washington, consisted of only four cabinet members: Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of Treasury, and the Attorney General. The modern cabinet has grown and adapted over two centuries but it is rare for new departments to be added.
Departments are occasionally renamed or replaced. Rarely is a department abolished. This has only happened once in the last half century, when the cabinet-level Post Office Department was replaced with the independent United States Postal Service.
The Cabinet-level departments are listed here in order of presidential succession:
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Homeland Security
Each of the Cabinet departments is organized with a similar hierarchical structure. At the top of each department is the secretary—except in the case of the Department of Justice, the highest office is called the “attorney general,” but the role is parallel to that of the secretary of other departments.
Beneath the secretary, each executive department has a deputy secretary. The deputy secretary advises and assists the secretary, and fills the Office of Secretary if it becomes vacant. The deputy secretary is nominated by the president, just as the secretary is.
Below the level of deputy secretary, departmental organization varies. Most departments have several undersecretaries, who preside over specific branches of the organization. Undersecretaries are appointed by the president, but vary in prestige depending on the size of the department they are employed in and the breadth of affairs they oversee. Each department also has its own staff, who are not appointed by the president, but instead are hired by internal supervisors.
Learn more about the Presidential Cabinet here.
