United States federal executive departments - Wikipedia United States federal executive departments `` Executive Department '' redirects here. For the idea of executive departments in general, see Cabinet ( politics ). The United States federal executive departments are the primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. They are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary or semi-presidential systems but ( the United States being a presidential system ) they are led by a head of government who is also the head of state. The executive departments are the administrative arms of the President of the United States. There are currently 15 executive departments. The heads of the executive departments receive the title of Secretary of their respective department, except for the Attorney - General who is head of the Justice Department ( and the Postmaster General who until 1971 was head of the Post Office Department ). The heads of the executive departments are appointed by the President and take office after confirmation by the United States Senate, and serve at the pleasure of the President. The heads of departments are members of the Cabinet of the United States, an executive organ that normally acts as an advisory body to the President. In the Opinion Clause ( Article II, section 2, clause 1 ) of the U.S. Constitution, heads of executive departments are referred to as `` principal Officer in each of the executive Departments ''. The heads of executive departments are included in the line of succession to the President, in the event of a vacancy in the presidency, after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Contents 1 Current executive departments 2 Past executive departments 3 See also 4 Citations 5 References 6 External Links Current executive departments This article needs to be updated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( February 2012 ) Departments are listed by their present - day name and only departments with past or present cabinet - level status are listed. Department Creation Order of succession Notes 2009 Outlays in billions of dollars Employees State 1789 Initially named `` Department of Foreign Affairs '' 16.39 18,900 Treasury 1789 5 19.56 115,897 Justice 1870 7 Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870 46.20 113,543 Interior 1849 8 90.00 71,436 Agriculture 1889 9 Elevated to Cabinet level in 1889 134.12 109,832 Commerce 1903 10 Originally named Commerce and Labor ; Labor later separated 15.77 43,880 Labor 1913 11 137.97 17,347 Defense 1947 6 Created by the National Security Act of 1947. Initially named `` National Military Establishment '' 1947 - 49. Created from a merger of the Department of War and Department of the Navy. 651.16 3,000,000 Health and Human Services 1953 12 Originally the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare ; Education later separated 879.20 67,000 Housing and Urban Development 1965 13 40.53 10,600 Transportation 1966 14 73.20 58,622 Energy 1977 15 24.10 109,094 Education 1979 16 45.40 4,487 Veterans Affairs 17 Formerly an independent agency as the Veterans Administration 97.70 235,000 Homeland Security 2002 18 Created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 40.00 240,000 Total outlays, employees : 2,311.30 Bn 4,214,652 Past executive departments Department Dates of Operation Notes Department of War 1789 -- 1947 Split into Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force in the National Security Act of 1947 Post Office Department 1792 -- 1971 Reorganized as quasi-independent agency, United States Postal Service Department of Commerce and Labor 1903 -- 1913 Divided between Department of Commerce and Department of Labor Department of the Army 1947 -- 1949 From 1947 - 1949, these departments were executive departments with non-cabinet level secretaries who reported to the civilian Secretary of Defense with cabinet rank but no department. From 1949 on, they were Military Departments within the Department of Defense Department of the Navy 1798 -- 1949 Department of the Air Force 1947 -- 1949 Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1953 -- 1979 Divided between Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education See also Independent agencies of the United States government British government departments Cabinet of the Confederate States of America Citations Jump up ^ Wilson, Reid ( October 20, 2013 ). `` The Presidential order of succession ''. The Washington Post. ISSN 0190 - 8286. Retrieved November 10, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Office of the Historian - Milestones - 1776 - 1783 - Articles of Confederation ''. History.state.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` History ''. Treasury.gov. 2012 - 10 - 22. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` USDOJ : About DOJ ''. Justice.gov. 2009 - 09 - 30. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` History of Interior ''. Doi.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ http://www.usda.gov/documents/timeline.pdf Jump up ^ `` Secretaries Department of Commerce ''. Commerce.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Department of Commerce FY 2009 Budget in Brief ''. Osec.doc.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. ^ Jump up to : `` The U.S. Department of Labor Historical Timeline - U.S. Department of Labor ''. Dol.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` About The Department of Defense ( DOD ) ''. Defense.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` HUD History / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ) ''. Portal.hud.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Archived August 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Department of Energy Organization Act '' ( PDF ). U.S. Department of the Interior. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. August 4, 1977. Jump up ^ `` Overview and Mission Statement U.S. Department of Education ''... ed.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ Department of Veterans Affairs. `` History - VA History - About VA ''. Va.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Creation of the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security ''. Dhs.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 29. Jump up ^ Stewart, Richard W., ed. ( 2005 ). `` Chapter 24 : Peace Becomes Cold War, 1945 - 1950 ''. American Military History. Army Historical Series. II. United States Army. pp. 531 -- 533. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 23. References Relyea, Harold C. `` Homeland Security : Department Organization and Management '' ( PDF ), Report for Congress, 2002. RL31493 ( August 7, 2002 ). 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Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_federal_executive_departments&oldid=806833919 '' Categories : United States federal executive departments Executive branch of the United States government Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Wikipedia articles in need of updating from February 2012 All Wikipedia articles in need of updating Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikibooks Languages Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Català Cymraeg Dansk Eesti Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano 日本 語 Polski Português Shqip Simple English Svenska Татарча / tatarça Türkçe Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 24 October 2017, at 12 : 54. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who approves the head of the cabinet departments
Answer: United States Senate