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2 Executive branch
Article II of the Constitution establishes the Executive branch of Government. The President is the head of government, chief of state, and commander-in-chief of the military. The current President and Vice President are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, since January 20, 2001.
The office of president of the United States is one of the most powerful offices of its kind in the world. The president, the Constitution says, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, he presides over the executive branch of the federal government, a vast organization numbering about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. In addition, the president has important legislative and judicial powers. Within the executive branch itself, the president has broad powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government.
2.1 The Executive Departments
The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws is in the hands of the various executive departments, created by Congress to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs. The heads of the 15 departments, chosen by the president and approved by the Senate, form a council of advisers generally known as the president's " Cabinet." In addition to departments, there is a number of staff organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. These include the White House staff, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Office of Science and Technology Policy . There is also a number of independent agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Constitution, as originally written, does not provide for a Cabinet. However, the establishment of high-level executive departments by Congress and the need for the president to solicit advice made its formation a necessity. Cabinet members are the heads of all cabinet-level agencies, which are created by statute. Section 4 of the 25th Amendment empowers a majority of the "principal officers of the executive departments," and the vice president to elevate the vice president to the office of Acting President, should the president become temporarily disabled or unable to discharge his duties.
Each department has thousands of employees, with offices throughout the country as well as in Washington. The departments are divided into divisions, bureaus, offices, and services, each with specific duties. The line between political appointees and permanent civil servants is drawn lower in the American governmental bureaucracy than it is in most other countries. When a new president takes over he makes literally thousands of appointments, as opposed to a few dozen in other nations. The more senior-level appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.
