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Others in the Executive Branch. What are the functions of the departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy?. As you come in…. .
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Others in the Executive Branch What are the functions of the departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy?
As you come in…. • Use the chart on page 426-427 in your book to answer the following questions (here is a hint – use the chart!!). Yes, write the questions and answers in complete sentences! • How many different executive departments have been created over the years? • Which three Cabinet departments are the most important, why?
Questions • Is the president the only person in the executive branch? • What is the purpose of his Cabinet? • So, is the President and his Cabinet the only people in the executive branch? • Turn in your book to page 417.
Agencies • There are around 150 executive branch agencies that are not located within any of the 15 executive departments. • Some of these agencies though, rival Cabinet departments in the size of their budgets, their functions, and the number of employees. • Examples: Postal Service, Social Security, TVA
Use pages430-435 to compare and contrast the following 3 groups. Be sure to include how they are organized and their responsibilities. Executive Agencies Independent Regulatory Agencies Government Corporations
Department of State • Secretary of State: John Kerry • Job: Advise President on Foreign Policy, negotiate treaties, represent the US abroad.
Department of Treasury • Secretary of Treasury: Jack Lew • Job: Produce coins, bills. Collects taxes, borrows money. Enforces alcohol, tobacco, and firearms laws.
Department of Defense • Secretary of Defense: Chuck Hagel • Job: Keep up the military, protect the nation’s security.
Department of Justice • Attorney General: Eric Holder • Job: Enforces federal laws, prosecutes those who violate federal laws, provide legal advice, represents the US in court.
Department of Interior • Secretary of Interior: Sally Jewell • Job: Manages public lands, wildlife refuges and national parks. Operate hydroelectric power plants and manages affairs with Native Americans.
Department of Agriculture • Secretary of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack • Job: Also manages national parks, inspects food, assists farmers and ranchers. Administers food stamps and school lunch programs.
Department of Commerce • Secretary of Commerce: Penny Pritzker • Job: Conducts census, grants patents and registers trademarks. Promotes international trade, economic growth and technological development.
Department of Labor • Secretary of Labor: Thomas Perez • Job: Enforces laws on minimum wage, maximum working hours, and safe working conditions. Operates job training. Administers workers’ compensation programs.
Department of Heath and Human Services • Secretary of Health and Human Services: Kathleen Sebelius • Job: Funds health care research programs, conducts programs to prevent and control disease, enforces pure food and drug laws, will administer new healthcare plan.
Department of Housing and Urban Development • Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Shaun Donovan • Job: Operates home financing and public housing programs, enforces fair housing laws.
Department of Transportation • Secretary of Transportation: Anthony Foxx • Job: Administers programs to promote and regulate highways, mass transit, railroads, waterways, air travel, and oil and gas pipelines.
Department of Energy • Secretary of Energy: Ernest Moniz • Job: Promotes the production of renewable energy, fossil fuels, and nuclear energy. Transmits and sells hydroelectric power, conducts nuclear weapons research.
Department of Education • Secretary of Education: Arne Duncan • Job: Administers federal aid to schools, conducts educational research.
Department of Veterans Affairs • Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Eric Shenseki • Job: Administers benefits, pensions, and medical programs for veterans of the armed forces, oversees military cemeteries.
Department of Homeland Security • Secretary of Homeland Security: Rand Beers • Job: Border and transportation security, emergency preparedness and response, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defense, and information analysis and infrastructure protection.
Assignment • Now that you have learned about the federal bureaucracy. Choose one of the agencies. Create a short story about how the US would operate without that agency. • For example: The US without the President’s Cabinet.