United States Federal Executive Departments

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The United States Federal Executive Departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.

The heads of the federal executive departments are the members of the traditional Cabinet; since 1792, they have, by statutory specification, constituted a line of succession, after the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate, to the presidency in the event of a vacancy in both that office and the vice presidency. The Constitution refers to these officials when it authorizes the President, in Article II, section 2, to "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." In brief, they and their organizations are the administrative arms of the President.

All departments are listed by their present-day name and only departments with past or present cabinet-level status are listed. Order of succession applies only to within the cabinet; the Vice President has always been first in the line of succession, and the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate have at times been included

Department	Creation	Order of succession	Modifications since creation	2007 Budget	Employees (2007)
State	1789	1	Initially named "Department of Foreign Affairs"	$9.96 Billion	30,266
Treasury	1789	2		$11.10 Billion	115,897
Defense	1947	3	Initially named "National Military Establishment"	$375.20 Billion	3,000,000
Justice	1870	4	Position of Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870	$23.40 Billion	112,557
Interior	1849	5		$10.70 Billion	71,436
Agriculture	1889	6		$77.60 Billion	109,832
Commerce	1903	7	Originally named Commerce and Labor; Labor later separated	$6.20 Billion	36,000
Labor	1913	8		$59.70 Billion	17,347
Health and Human Services	1953	9	Originally named Health, Education, and Welfare; Education later separated	$543.20 Billion	67,000
Housing and Urban Development	1965	10		$46.20 Billion	10,600
Transportation	1966	11		$58.00 Billion	58,622
Energy	1977	12		$21.50 Billion	116,100
Education	1979	13		$62.80 Billion	4,487
Veterans Affairs	1989	14		$73.20 Billion	235,000
Homeland Security	2003	15		$44.6 Billion	208,000
Total budget (Fiscal Year 2007):				$1,459.32 Billion	4,193,144

Department	Dates of Operation	Notes
War	1789-1947	Subsumed by Department of Defense, renamed Department of the Army
Post Office	1789-1971	Reorganized as quasi-independent agency, United States Postal Service
Navy	1798-1947	Subsumed by Department of Defense It has been proposed that the Secretary of Homeland Security assume the position in the order of succession once held by the Secretary of the Navy.
Commerce and Labor	1903-1913	Divided between Department of Commerce and Department of Labor
Health, Education, and Welfare	1953-1979	Divided between Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education

Relyea, Harold C. "Homeland Security: Department Organization and Management", Report for Congress, 2002. RL31493 (August 7, 2002). (PDF)

v • d • e United States Federal Executive Departments
Agriculture • Commerce • Defense • Education • Energy • Health and Human Services • Homeland Security • Housing and Urban Development • Interior • Justice • Labor • State • Transportation • Treasury • Veterans Affairs

Past departments: Commerce and Labor • Health, Education, and Welfare • Navy • Post Office • War