BELLRINGER:
Chapter 7 / Section 4:
Presidential Advisers and Executive
Agencies
I. Executive Office of the President
• A. The employees of the Executive Office of the
President (EOP) help the president by preparing reports,
helping to write bills, and checking the work of various
agencies.
• B. The people of the White House Office work directly
for the president. About 10 to 12 of these 500 people
are the president’s closest advisers.
They make up the White House
staff. The most powerful is the
chief of staff.
• C. The White House Staff screens the flow of
information and people to the president. As a
result, this group has a lot of power.
• D. The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) prepares the federal budget and
monitors government spending. The federal
budget lays out the administration’s plans and
goals for the coming year.
• E. The National Security Council helps the
president coordinate the military and foreign
policy. It includes the vice president, the
secretaries of state and defense, and the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a group
made up of the top commander of each of the
armed services. The NSC supervises the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• F. George W. Bush created the Office of
Homeland Security to deal with terrorist
activities. It includes members of the cabinet
and of agencies such as the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and Border Patrol.
• G. The three members of the Council of
Economic Advisers advise the president about
complex economic matters, such as
employment, tax policy, inflation, and trade.
II. Cabinet
• A. The cabinet is a group of advisers that includes the
heads of the 14 top-level executive departments. The
head of the Department of Justice is called the
attorney general. The other department heads are
called secretaries.
• B. Cabinet members advise the president on issues
related to their departments.
The president decides when
the cabinet meets and how
much to rely on their advice.
The President’s Cabinet
GROUP WORK:
Discussion Question:
• How did the cabinet
develop?
ANSWER:
• No mention of the cabinet appears in the
Constitution. Instead, this body developed
over the years through
custom and usage. It started
when George Washington
began meeting regularly with
department heads.
III. The Vice President and the
First Lady
• A. Most presidents have delegated little authority to
their vice presidents, though this is changing
somewhat. Modern vice presidents have served on
special advisory boards. They often visit foreign
countries as representatives of the president.
• B. The Constitution does not mention the
president’s spouse. Many First Ladies, though,
have served the country in useful ways. Today
First Ladies have an office and staff in the
White House.
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT FIRST LADY’S
IMPORTANT PROJECTS?
IV. The Federal Bureaucracy
A. The executive branch is shaped like a
pyramid. Directly below the president are the
cabinet secretaries and their departments. At
the next level are hundreds of agencies.
Together, the agencies and employees of the
executive branch are known as the federal
bureaucracy. The workers are called
bureaucrats, or civil servants.
• B. These departments and agencies carry out
government programs by performing three
basic jobs: (1) They develop procedures for
putting new laws into practice. (2) They
administer day-to-day operations of the
government. (3) They regulate, or police,
various activities. In doing these jobs they
help shape government policy.
• C. Independent agencies are not part of the
cabinet, but they are not independent of the
president. The three types are: executive
agencies, regulatory commissions, and
government corporations.
• D. Executive agencies deal with certain
specialized areas. The National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) is one
example.
• E. Government corporations are like private
businesses, except that the government owns
and runs them. Like businesses, they charge
for their services, but they are not supposed
to make a profit. The United States Postal
Service is a government corporation.
• F. Unlike other independent agencies,
regulatory commissions do not report to the
president. The president appoints members,
but only Congress can remove them through
impeachment. Regulatory commissions
protect the public by making and
enforcing rules for certain industries.
• G. Top department jobs generally go to political
appointees – people whom the president has chosen
because they have ability or were supporters of the
president’s election campaign. Their employment
usually ends when the president leaves office.
• H. About 90 percent of national government employees
are civil service workers. Unlike appointees, they
usually have permanent employment. The civil service
system hires government
workers on the basis of open,
competitive examinations and
merit.
• I. Before 1883 government jobs went to the
people as a reward for their political support.
Abuses of this spoils system led Congress to
pass the Pendleton Act, also known as the
Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. This law
limited the number of jobs the president
could give to friends and backers. It also
created the civil service system.
• J. The Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) directs the civil service system. It sets
job standards and gives written tests to job
seekers. The civil service system is a merit
system. Government officials hire new
workers from lists of people who have passed
the test or otherwise met civil service
standards.
EXIT STRATEGY: