executive departments
Federal administrative branches
Executive departments are the major administrative divisions of the executive branch of a government, each responsible for a broad area of national policy such as defense, treasury, or justice.
In the United States, the heads of these departments—called secretaries—serve in the president's cabinet and are appointed with Senate confirmation.
The executive departments employ hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
The number of departments has grown as government responsibilities have expanded over time.
- policymakingCreating official guidelines
- secretaryAdministrative office aide
- chain of commandFormal authority hierarchy
- defenseProtection against harm
- cabinetEnclosed storage furniture
cabinet secretary · constitutional provisions · bureaucracy · agency · civil service · federal workforce · commissioner · education · ministry · transportation · policy agenda · commerce · energy · implementation · legislative acts · labor · agriculture · office
- civil servicecivil servants, bureaucrat, civil servant, administrator, clerk
executive departmentsCongress
U.S. lawmaking body
legislative branch · judicial branch · federal courts · House of Representatives · federal judiciary
executive departmentsstate agencies
Official public service organizations
local government · tribal governments · county offices · city government
executive departmentsindependent agencies
Government entities operating autonomously
executive, executives, execute, executed, executes, executing, execution, executions, executioner