Cabinet of the United States - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The current U.S. Cabinet; the cabinet of President Joe Biden
Here are all of the cabinet officials during Ronald Reagan's presidency

The Cabinet of the United States (usually simplified as "the Cabinet") is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, and its existence dates back to the first American President (George Washington), who appointed a Cabinet of four people (Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson; Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton; Secretary of War, Henry Knox; and Attorney General, Edmund Randolph) to advise and assist him in his duties.

Cabinet officers are nominated by the President and then presented to the United States Senate for confirmation or rejection by a simple majority. If approved, they are sworn in and begin their duties. Aside from Attorney General, and previously, the Postmaster General, they all receive the title Secretary.

Current cabinet members[change | change source]

Cabinet[change | change source]

The Cabinet officers are listed in rank order according to the United States presidential line of succession:

Cabinet
Office
(Constituting instrument)
Incumbent Took office

Vice President
(Constitution, Art. II, Sec. I)

Kamala Harris
January 20, 2021

Secretary of State
(22 U.S.C. § 2651a)

Antony Blinken
January 26, 2021

Secretary of the Treasury
(31 U.S.C. § 301)
Janet Yellen
January 25, 2021[1]

Secretary of Defense
(10 U.S.C. § 113)

Lloyd Austin
January 22, 2021

Attorney General
(28 U.S.C. § 503)

Merrick Garland
March 11, 2021

Secretary of the Interior
(43 U.S.C. § 1451)

Deb Haaland
March 16, 2021

Secretary of Agriculture
(7 U.S.C. § 2202)

Tom Vilsack
February 23, 2021

Secretary of Commerce
(15 U.S.C. § 1501)

Gina Raimondo
March 3, 2021

Secretary of Labor
(29 U.S.C. § 551)

Julie Su
(Acting)
March 11, 2023

Secretary of Health and Human Services
(Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953,
67 Stat. 631 and 42 U.S.C. § 3501)

Xavier Becerra
March 19, 2021

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
(42 U.S.C. § 3532)

Adrianne Todman
(Acting)
March 22, 2024

Secretary of Transportation
(49 U.S.C. § 102)

Pete Buttigieg
February 2, 2021

Secretary of Energy
(42 U.S.C. § 7131)

Jennifer Granholm
February 25, 2021

Secretary of Education
(20 U.S.C. § 3411)

Miguel Cardona
March 2, 2021

Secretary of Veterans Affairs
(38 U.S.C. § 303)

Denis McDonough
February 9, 2021

Secretary of Homeland Security
(6 U.S.C. § 112)

Alejandro Mayorkas
February 2, 2021

Cabinet-level officials[change | change source]

The following officials hold positions that are considered to be Cabinet-level positions. Cabinet-level officials attend Cabinet meetings, but are not official Cabinet Members:

Cabinet-level Officials
Office Incumbent Term began

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(5 U.S.C. § 906, Executive Order 11735)

Michael S. Regan
March 11, 2021

Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(31 U.S.C. § 502, Executive Order 11541,
Executive Order 11609, Executive Order 11717)

Shalanda Young
March 24, 2021[2]

Director of National Intelligence
(50 U.S.C. § 3023)

Avril Haines
January 21, 2021[3]

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
(50 U.S.C. § 3036)

William Joseph Burns
March 19, 2021

Trade Representative
(19 U.S.C. § 2171)

Katherine Tai
March 18, 2021

Ambassador to the United Nations

Linda Thomas-Greenfield
February 25, 2021

Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors

Jared Bernstein
July 10, 2023

Administrator of the Small Business Administration
(15 U.S.C. § 633)

Isabel Guzman
March 17, 2021

Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy

Arati Prabhakar
October 3, 2022

White House Chief of Staff
(Pub.L. 76-19, 53 Stat. 561, enacted April 3, 1939,
Executive Order 8248, Executive Order 10452,
Executive Order 12608)

Jeff Zients
February 8, 2023

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. Rappeport, Alan (2021-01-25). "Senate Confirms Yellen as Treasury Secretary as Stimulus Talks Loom". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  2. "What Shalanda Young's ascension means to Black staffers on Capitol Hill". CNN. 2022-02-06. Retrieved 11 February 2022. As acting director, Young serves as a senior adviser to the President.
  3. "Roll Call Vote Summary: Confirmation: Avril Danica Haines, of New York, to be Director of National Intelligence".