What is the Cabinet?

The Cabinet is the group of senior executive department heads who advise the President on policy matters and lead the major departments of the federal government. The Cabinet is not mentioned by name in the Constitution. It evolved from George Washington's practice of meeting with his department heads. Washington's first Cabinet had four members: Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox as Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph as Attorney General.

The modern Cabinet has 15 executive department heads, each leading a department created by Congress over the past two centuries. The departments are State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. Each is led by a secretary appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, except the Department of Justice, which is led by the Attorney General.

Beyond the 15 department heads, the President often gives Cabinet rank to other senior officials. Modern Cabinets typically include the Vice President, the White House Chief of Staff, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, the Director of National Intelligence, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ambassador to the United Nations, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. The exact membership varies by administration.

The Cabinet meets at the President's discretion. Some Presidents have used Cabinet meetings as policy forums; others have relied more on smaller groups or individual advisors. Modern presidencies have generally moved away from large Cabinet meetings toward smaller working groups within the White House.

Cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the President and can be dismissed at any time, though Senate confirmation hearings can be confrontational and politically significant. Cabinet members manage their departments, develop policy in their areas, testify before Congress on legislation and oversight matters, and represent the administration publicly. They are also subject to the line of presidential succession after the Vice President, the Speaker, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.