Presidential Cabinet and Its Purpose

A presidential cabinet is a group of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government. Members of the presidential cabinet are nominated by the commander in chief and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  White House records describe the role of presidential cabinet members as being to advise the president on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each members respective office. There are 23 members of the presidential cabinet, including the vice president of the United States. How the First Cabinet Was Created Authority for the creation of a presidential cabinet is granted in  Article II Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution  gives the president the authority to seek external advisors. It states that the president can 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. Congress, in turn, determines the number and scope of executive Departments. Who Can Serve A member of the presidential cabinet cannot be a member of Congress or a sitting governor. Article I Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution  states   ... No person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. Sitting governors, U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives must resign before being sworn in as a member of the presidential cabinet. How Members Are Chosen The president nominates cabinet officers. The nominees are then presented to the U.S. Senate for confirmation or rejection on a simple majority vote. If approved, the presidential cabinet nominees are sworn in and begin their duties. Who Gets to Sit on the Cabinet Except for the vice president and attorney general, all cabinet heads are called secretary. The modern cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments. Seven other individuals have cabinet rank: White House chief of staffEnvironmental Protection Agency administratorOffice of Management Budget directorU.S. Trade Representative ambassadorU.S. Mission to the United Nations ambassadorCouncil of Economic Advisers chairmanSmall Business Administration administrator The secretary of state is the highest-ranking member of the presidential cabinet. The secretary of state is also fourth in the line of succession to the presidency behind the vice president, the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore. Cabinet officers serve as the heads of the following executive agencies of the government: AgricultureCommerceDefenseEducationEnergyInteriorJusticeLaborHealth and Human ServicesHomeland SecurityHousing and Urban DevelopmentStateTransportationTreasuryVeterans Affairs History of The Cabinet The presidential cabinet dates to the first American president, George Washington. He appointed a Cabinet of four people: Secretary of State  Thomas JeffersonSecretary of the Treasury  Alexander HamiltonSecretary of War  Henry KnoxAttorney General Edmund Randolph Those four cabinet positions remain the most important to the president to this day, with the War Department having been replaced by the Defense Department. Vice President John Adams was not included in Washingtons cabinet, as it was not until the 20th century that the vice presidents office was considered a cabinet position. Line of Succession The presidential cabinet is an important part of the presidential line of succession, the process that determines who will serve as president upon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office of a sitting president or a president-elect. The presidential line of succession is spelled out in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Because of this, it is common practice not to have the entire cabinet in one location at the same time, even for ceremonial occasions such as  the State of the Union Address. Typically, one member of the presidential cabinet serves as the designated survivor, and they are held at a secure, undisclosed location, ready to take over if the president, vice president and the rest of the cabinet are killed. Here is the  line of succession to the presidency: Vice PresidentSpeaker of the House of RepresentativesPresident Pro Tempore of the SenateSecretary of StateSecretary of the TreasurySecretary of DefenseAttorney GeneralSecretary of the InteriorSecretary of AgricultureSecretary of CommerceSecretary of LaborSecretary of Health and Human ServicesSecretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentSecretary of TransportationSecretary of EnergySecretary of EducationSecretary of Veterans AffairsSecretary of Homeland Security