Cabinet Flashcards
What is the general makeup of the cabinet?
- V.P
- 15 Executive Leaders
- 10 Cabinet level officials
The President just CHAIRS the meetings, isn’t technically part of them
How many members of the cabinet have to be approved by the senate?
All but 3
What are the other institutions that the president has control over/ influence
- Executive office of the President (EXOP)
- The independent Federal Agencies
- Cabinet
Which part of the constitution sets out cabinet
There isn’t actually any mention of cabinet in the constitution, the closest thing is article 2, section 2, “to advise the president on any subject he might require relating to the duties of each member’s respective office”
How does the separation of powers affect cabinet membership?
In many circumstances members of Congress (the legislature) have had to give up their seats to join the executive branch, such as
- Obama resigning as the senator of Illinois to become the President
- Hilary Clinton resign as Senator of NY to join Obama’s executive as the Secretary of State.
What types of people (asides from members of Congress) might be appointed to the cabinet?
- Academics; e.g Obama appointing the Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Chu as his secretary of energy
-Experts;
-Military Officers
Lobbyist;
What is an example of rejected appointment to cabinet?
-The last rejection was in 1989, with Bush’s appointment John Tower for Secretary of Defence getting rejected.
In recent times it’s more common to see the candidate withdrawn after media outcry, such as
- When Trump tried to make his initial cabinet in 2016 a lot of his appointments came under heavy scrutiny from both the senate and the media, leading to 6 of them withdrawing, such as Chad Wolf who was nominated for secretary of homeland security.
What type of people predominately made up George W. Bush’s Cabinet?
- Business experts and CEOs
What type of people predominately made up Obama’s Cabinet?
- Academics, with 2/3rd of his cabinet having attended an Ivy League uni.
What type of people predominately made up Trump’s Cabinet?
- Rich people, Trump stated he wanted officers who had ‘made a fortune’ with his first cabinet having a total networth of $2.3 billion
- Lobbyists, Trump within the first 3 years of his cabinet appointed more lobbyists than Obama or Bush did during their 8 year terms
- stated he liked ‘acting’ cabinet members, as it gave him ‘more flexibility’ as they don’t need senate approval
What type of people predominately made up Joe Biden?
Diversity, with it being the most diverse cabinet in the history of America, 55% non white and 45% women
What sort of relationship does the president have with the Cabinet
Sole executive authority, the cabinet works FOR the president, due to its lack of constitutional status, it works to ‘serve the president’ and all advice given can just be ignored by the president
Famous dismissal by Trump?
Sacked Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson on Twitter in 2018
How often does US cabinet meet?
- on average 6 times a year
- Obama had on average 3.5 a year
- Reagan held 36 in his first year
- Trump held 1 cabinet meeting in 2020
How much power does the VP have of the President?
Variable. Their main power is to influence the president. Pence, Biden and Chaney were all influential over their respective presidents, with Biden saying he was the ‘Last Guy in the room’ showing how key of a cabinet member the VP is.
