Administration
Official Cabinet
(member seats)
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.
President
The President of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The President directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces.
Vice-President
The Vice President of the United States is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the President of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as President of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president presides over Senate deliberations (or delegates this task to a member of the Senate), but may only vote to break a tie. The vice president also presides over joint sessions of Congress.
Law
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Considerations
Jeanine Ferris Pirro
Ted Cruz |
Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is a senior official of the federal government of the United States of America, and as head of the United States Department of State, is principally concerned with foreign policy and is considered to be the U.S. government's equivalent of a Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Relations Committee
Secretary of the Treasury
An officer appointed by the president. His principal duties are, 1. To superintend the collection of the revenue. 2. To digest, prepare, and lay before congress at the commencement of every session, a report on the subject of finance. 3. To annex to the annual estimates of the appropriations required for the public service, a statement of the appropriations for the service of the year, which may have been made by former acts. 4. To give information to either house of congress, respecting all matters connected with his office. Besides these, there are other minor duties imposed upon him by various acts of congress.
Finance Committee
Law
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Considerations
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Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense (SecDef) is the leader and chief executive officer of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the Armed Forces of the United States. The Secretary of Defense's position of command and authority over the United States' military is second only to that of the President and Congress, respectively.
Armed Services Committee
Law
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Considerations
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Attorney General
The United States Attorney General (A.G.) is the chief lawyer of the Federal government of the United States and head of the United States Department of Justice, concerned with all legal affairs. Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the President of the United States and appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
Judiciary Committee
Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior, and is responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources; it oversees such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey. The Secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.
Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Secretary of Agriculture
The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The department includes several organizations. National forests and grasslands are managed by the United States Forest Service. The safety of food produced and sold in the United States is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Food Stamp Program works with the states to provide food to low-income people. Advice for farmers and gardeners is provided by the United States Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The Secretary is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate and serves in the President's Cabinet. The Secretary is concerned with promoting American businesses and industries; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce".
Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies.
Secretary of Health and Human Services
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD Secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the President's Cabinet, thirteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The department's mission is "to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.
Secretary of Transportation
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential Line of Succession. The department's mission is "to develop and coordinate policies that will provide an efficient and economical national transportation system, with due regard for need, the environment, and the national defense." The Secretary of Transportation oversees eleven agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Secretary of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics; The Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative. DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories.
Secretary of Education
The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The Secretary advises the President on federal policies, programs, and activities related to education in the United States. As a member of the President's Executive Cabinet, this Secretary is fifteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a federal Cabinet-level agency that provides near-comprehensive healthcare services to eligible military veterans at VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country; several non-healthcare benefits including disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance; and provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries.
Secretary of Homeland Security
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the U.S. and the safety of U.S. citizens. The secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, the Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (which includes the Border Patrol), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which includes Homeland Security Investigations), the Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.
Cabinet-Level
(positions)
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: