Parts of the Executive Branch

The Hand of Government

Objectives• CE.C&G.2.1 Analyze the structures of national, state and local governments in

terms of ways they are organized to maintain order, security, welfare of the public and the protection of citizens (e.g., federalism, the three branches, court system, jurisdictions, judicial process, agencies, etc.).

• CE.C&G.2.6 Evaluate the authority federal, state and local governments have over individuals’ rights and privileges (e.g., Bill of Rights, Delegated Powers, Reserved Powers, Concurrent Powers, Pardons, Writ of habeas corpus, Judicial Process, states’ rights, Patriot

• CE.C&G.3.3 Analyze laws and policies in terms of their intended purposes, who has authority to create them and how they are enforced (e.g., laws, policies, public policy, regulatory, symbolic, procedural, etc.).

• CE.C&G.5.3 Analyze national, state and local government agencies in terms of how they balance interests and resolve conflicts (e.g., FBI, SBI, DEA, CIA, National Guard Reserves, magistrates, Better Business Bureau, IRS, Immigration and Naturalization, FEMA, Homeland Security)

Essential Questions

• How does the structure of the federal bureaucracy enable the executive branch to properly carryout laws in order to execute the four functions of government?

• How much authority does the executive branch have over individual lives and state governments?

• How are laws enforced by the executive branch?• Why does the structure of the executive branch

enable it to balance the interests of nation and resolve conflicts?

Congress and the Executive Branch• The Constitution divides responsibility for organizing the federal

government between the Executive and Legislative Government. • Article I Section 8, Clause 18 gives congress the power to organize the

government by creating parts of the executive branch , “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”

• Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 gives the president the power to demand advice and council from officers of the executive branch, “he may 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…”

• Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 gives the president, with consent of Senate, and the at times the use of law to create the position, the power to appoint cabinet members and other officers of the executive branch

Conflict and Compromise • The interplay between Congress and President in the creation of the

executive departments, agencies, commission, and ect can lead to conflict and require compromise to enable government to function– Some presidents can persuade or demand congress to create new parts of the

executive branch while others struggle to balance their will with the desires of Congress• In 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, which created the Department of

Homeland Security as a new cabinet member to streamline domestic and foreign intelligence agencies in order to improve nations terrorism defenses

• Furthermore, the Senate must approve nomination of key cabinet heads and other important officers– If the branches are political divided this can become a conflicting and drawn at

process• The confliction between two branch can lead to less radical or

fundamental people in important places within the executive branch

Structure and Organization

• In the beginning there were just a few departments and assistants

• As America grew geographically and politically, more components were added to help the president execute the laws of congress and navigate the increasingly complexities of international politics and economics

• Now there are 15 departments, the Executive Office of President, and numerous independent agencies and commissions

Executive Office of President

• E.O.P. was created in 1939 to assist in the administrative duties of the president– The core of the EOP is the White House Office who

work directly for the president• There are 500 employees• 12 of which are some his closest advisors; chief of staff,

press secretary

– Office of Management and Budget– National Security Council – Council of Economic Advisors

The Cabinet

• The Cabinet is comprised of the top level advisors that are the heads of the executive departments– They are referred to as secretaries– They advise president on issues relative to their

department• Ex. Secretary of State advises on diplomatic issues and

foreign policy

Federal Bureaucracy

• Below departments are hundreds of agencies that perform the day to day execution of laws and regulations

• Many of these report to relative departments• These agencies are like the arms and hands of the

departments and report up to the secretaries• They execute the laws of congress in three ways:

– They turn laws into action by applying them to daily life– Administer day to day ops: collect taxes, deliver mail, and

thousands of other services– Regulate activities: broadcasting, commercial productions,

financing, airlines, and power plants, environmental issues, ect.

Independent Agencies• Agencies that are not part of, and do not report to, any department or

secretary• There are three types:

– Executive Agencies• Responsible with dealing with specialized areas that do not connect to a department; • Ex. NASA

– Government Corporations • Operate like private business but are owned and operated by government• Ex. US Postal Service

– Regulatory Boards and Commissions• Unlike other independent agencies, these do not report to president• President appoints members but cannot remove or fire them; only congress can

remove them with impeachment• They are suppose to protect the public by regulating certain industries and businesses

and groups, so they must be removed from politics• Ex. FCC, FTC,