Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy: Departments, Agencies and Commissions

How is the Federal Bureaucracy Organized?

The American federal bureaucracy is made up of:

executive departments

independent agencies

government regulatory boards

government corporations

Heads of Executive or Cabinet-level departments are members of the President’s Cabinet, while heads of independent agencies, like NASA or the U.S. Post Office, have a certain amount of independence, but are still fully accountable to the President and to the American people.

There are regulatory boards, like the Federal Reserve Board where the Chairman, a political appointee of the President, holds the office for a specific length of time and works on setting monetary policy as outlined in the law creating his office. Government Corporations, like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), work independently as well, but under guidelines set forth by the federal government.

During the remainder of the lesson I will focus only on the Executive Departments and reference the independent agencies, government regulatory boards, and government corporations as “other federal agencies.”

Shown at right is Jerome Powell who took office as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve February 5, 2018.

Who Heads Up the Cabinet-level Departments?

When a President completes his term of office, individuals who head up the Cabinet-level departments and “other federal agencies “generally” turn in their resignation to the outgoing President. There are some exceptions . For example, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve does not have to turn in his resignation if his term has not yet expired and if the new President has not asked him to step down. Also, individuals who head up the intelligence agencies need not submit their resignations immediately and will do so when their term of office expires or when the President asks them to step aside. Most political appointees will stay in their current position under the President’s choice is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

However, Cabinet-level Department Secretaries and the U.S. Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice and sub-cabinet officials, such as an Undersecretary or Bureau Chief, do submit their resignations. They do this so that the new President can use his appointment power to nominate individuals who share his views and who have the ability and experience to manage a large department or agency.

The new President will submit the names of his Cabinet-level nominees (including those to head the “other federal agencies”) to the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Senate will provide its “advice and consent” and decide whether the nominees are qualified to head up a Cabinet-level department or “other federal agency.”

To view a Cabinet meeting during the Obama Administration, you can view the video: Inside the White House: The Cabinet :

What are the Responsibilities of the Secretaries, Undersecretaries, and Bureau Chiefs?

The responsibilities of Cabinet-level Department Secretaries and U.S. Attorney General are:

Political appointee of President and must be confirmed by U.S. Senate ;

“Serves at the will and pleasure” of the President;

Develops and promotes public policy initiatives (domestic or international). The Cabinet Secretaries and the U.S. Attorney General would essentially be working to put the “meat on the bones” of the President’s foreign and domestic agenda;

Acts as “spokesperson” for the department. For example, Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, promotes U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, advocates the President’s K-12 and Higher Education policies. They continue to promote his domestic and foreign/international policies through public appearances. They are the public face of their departments.

Supervises the administration of federal programs within their department. Cabinet secretaries and the Attorney General supervise political appointees and civilian and military personnel carry out and enforce the laws that come under the purview of their department.

Proposes a budget for the Executive (Cabinet-level) Department and submit it to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The department and federal agency heads must annually propose a budget outlining proposed spending for the federal programs under their department or agency’s jurisdiction to carry out and proposed funding for operating their departments and agencies. For example: The U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, would propose funding for programs under the direction of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and the U.S. Marshals Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (some non-law enforcement programs), and for the United States Attorney’s Office. In his budget, he would also outline the proposed costs for keeping the lights on, the lawn mowed, and for general maintenance costs at the Department of Justice, and its bureaus.

The Cabinet Secretaries and Attorney General, and federal agencies heads would then submit their proposed budgets for the upcoming government year to OMB.

The Direc tor of OMB is Russell T. Vought. To learn more about Russ Vought, go to Russell T. Vought, OMB Director .

The Director of OMB would review their budgets and make sure that they meet the President’s priorities and funding levels. Once all of the departments and federal agencies’ proposed budgets are submitted to OMB they will be reviewed by the Director and approved by the President and then complied into what is know as the Federal Budget .

The President must submit his Federal Budget to the U.S. Congress on the first Monday of February . This is required by law (the President has submitted his last four proposed Federal Budgets after this deadline). The Congress will then review the President’s Budget and invite the Secretaries and Bureau Chiefs to come before the House and Senate Budget Committees to defend the President’s Budget priorities.

Has President Trump submitted his budget to Congress for FY 2026?

Before looking at the responsibilities of the Undersecretaries and Bureau Chiefs, let us first take time to examine President Joseph Biden’s Federal Budget for FY 2025 and the Federal Budget process.

President Biden’s Budget for FY 2025 :

$7.266 trillion in proposed spending for federal programs and all federal agencies, including Cabinet-level Departments.

$5.485 trillion in anticipated revenue (obtained from individual income taxes, corporate tax, FICA (Social Security tax), and Medicare tax as well as excise taxes on gasoline and tobacco).

$1.781 trillion = Deficit

$29.984 trillion dollars = Public Debt

$37.097 trillion = Total Federal Debt

Textual Description of Image

To fully understand the Federal Budget you must know the definitions of these important terms:

discretionary spending

mandatory spending

Discretionary spending covers defense spending and most of the federal programs we hear about like funding for homeland security, highways, cleaning up the environment, education, national parks, space program, public housing, food and meat inspection, Congresspersons and their staff’s salaries, Amtrak etc. Discretionary programs are ultimately authorized and appropriated by the U.S. Congress each year through enactment of the 13 appropriations bills .

Mandatory spending which includes Social Security, Medicare, Federal pensions, farm subsidies, SSI, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, and Medicaid as well as interest on the federal debt all must be paid out of federal taxes. The U.S. Congress does not annually appropriate dollars for these programs. The necessary funding is released out of the U.S. Treasury each government year to cover the costs of these “entitlement programs.” While interest on the debt is part of mandatory spending, it is not an entitlement, and interest must be paid each year by the U.S. Government to holders of U.S. Treasuries.

Balanced Budget : federal spending equals (=) government revenue, e.g., taxes

Deficit : federal spending is greater than (>) government revenue

Surplus : federal spending is less than (<) government revenue Public debt : surplus minus (-) sum (+) of deficits or “Government debt, also known as public debt, or national debt, is the debt owed by a central government. (OER,Economic Policy, Federal Debt).” See the National Debt Clock by going to https://www.usdebtclock.org/ . Total Federal Debt: public debt + debt held by the government (OER, Economic Policy, Federal Debt). Textual Description of Image In his proposed Federal Budget, the President must also outline how much revenue he anticipates will be needed to cover proposed federal spending for the upcoming government year, and identify the sources of that “anticipated revenue.” In FY 2025, the President anticipates revenue from the following sources: Individual Income Taxes, Social Security taxes, Corporate taxes, Estate and Gift taxes, Customs Duties, Excise Taxes, and Deposits of earnings to the Federal Reserve System. Textual Description of Image To compare the Federal Budget for FY 2025 with previous Federal Budgets click on the links below: Federal Budget for FY 2026 Federal Budget for FY 2025 Federal Budget for FY 2024 Federal Budget for FY 2023 Federal Budget for FY 2022 Federal Budget for FY 2021 Federal Budget for FY 2020 Federal Budget for FY 2019 Federal Budget for FY 2018 Federal Budget for FY 2017 Federal Budget for FY 2016 Federal Budget for FY 2015 Federal Budget for FY 2014 Federal Budget for FY 2013 Federal Budget for FY 2012 Federal Budget for FY 2011 Federal Budget for FY 2010 Federal Budget for FY 2009 Federal Budget for FY 2008 Federal Budget for FY 2007 For more information on the Federal Budget , go to: Office of Management and Budget To learn more about the History of the White House, click on the link below: The White House Click on the link below to see photographs of all of the current Secretaries / Attorney General: President Biden’s Cabinet Responsibilities of the Undersecretary or Deputy Secretary of a Cabinet-level Department The responsibilities of the Undersecretary or Deputy Secretary are: Political appointee of the President and must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate; “Serves at the will and pleasure” of the President; Carries the administrative load for the Secretary . For example, the Undersecretary would assist the Secretary in developing policy initiatives, preparation of the department’s budget, and with selecting personnel for political appointments; Helps run the every day operations of the department . For example , former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, helped former President G. W. Bush negotiate arms control treaties. Sometimes there are a number of Undersecretaries in a Cabinet-level Department that have different policy responsibilities, like Undersecretary Bolten did at the U.S. Department of State. Responsibilities of Bureau Chiefs The responsibilities of the Bureau Chiefs are: Political appointee of President and must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate; “Serves at the will and pleasure” of the President; Directs major federal program within the bureau ; Directly supervises the federal employees who work within the bureau. For example , Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, would direct the FBI to carry out counterintelligence programs and enforce federal laws like RICO and Patriot Act. He would be responsible for supervising the FBI agents and would be directly accountable to the President.