ORLANDO, Fla. – In a system as vast as the U.S. government, cabinet members play a crucial role in guiding policies that impact every American. But how are these leaders chosen, and what power do they wield?
First and foremost, in the U.S. government, there are 15 recognized cabinet-level positions.
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Each cabinet member (who holds the title of Secretary, except in the Department of Justice) presides over large government agencies and has responsibilities including advising the President, shaping national and international policy, representing their agencies before Congress, and, of course, effectively running their respective departments (including policies, resources, and supervision). Most cabinet secretaries have extensive experience in their department’s area of expertise, but there is no formal requirement for such experience.
The 15 cabinet members are listed below. Note: they are in the order of the year they were created, which coincides with where each Secretary is positioned in the line of succession to the Presidency (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and Senate President pro tempore):
- Secretary of State (1789)
- Secretary of the Treasury (1789)
- Secretary of Defense (1789, reorganized in 1947)
- Attorney General - Department of Justice (1870)
- Secretary of the Interior (1849)
- Secretary of Agriculture (1862, became a cabinet position in 1889)
- Secretary of Commerce (1903)
- Secretary of Labor (1913)
- Secretary of Health and Human Services (established as Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953, renamed in 1979)
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1965)
- Secretary of Transportation (1966)
- Secretary of Energy (1977)
- Secretary of Education (1979)
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs (1989)
- Secretary of Homeland Security (2002)
To be eligible to assume the presidency (but not to hold a cabinet position), cabinet members must meet the following criteria:
- Be at least 35-years-old
- Be a natural-born U.S. citizen
- Be a U.S. resident for at least the previous 14 years
Though there are currently 15 cabinet positions, there is no limit on the number an administration may have (in fact, some cabinet positions have been either eliminated or reorganized). For example, the Department of the Navy was absorbed into the Department of Defense in 1947, and as part of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the Post Office’s cabinet status was removed, replaced by the USPS, a self-sustaining independent agency.
Creating a new cabinet position is like passing a new law: it begins with the introduction of a bill, followed by committee reviews, hearings, debates, Congressional voting, and Presidential approval. Once a new department is created, the President nominates its secretary.
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Which leads us to the focus of this story, the nomination process.
The standard and most straightforward way to get a nominee approved is through the **Standard Nomination** process. This is by no means simple, as it involves the nominee appearing at a hearing before a Senate committee, followed by a full Senate vote. A simple majority is needed for the nominee to be confirmed for the cabinet position. In some cases, Senate committees can “fast-track” a nominee, usually when the person is highly qualified and faces little controversy or opposition.
However, sometimes things aren’t so straightforward, and the President may put forth a controversial or unpopular nominee.
In these cases, the White House sometimes has the option of using a procedural shortcut: **Recess Appointments**. If the Senate is in recess (e.g., during summer or holiday recess), the President can make an appointment to immediately fill a position without Senate approval. The caveat is that this approval is temporary; the appointee must still be confirmed by the Senate through the Standard Nomination process before the end of the next Senate session.
And cabinet nominations are far from a smooth process. Historically, there have been a number of controversial nominations – here are half-a-dozen recent ones:
- 1989 - John Tower (Secretary of Defense)
Nominated by President George H.W. Bush, Tower’s nomination was rejected by the Senate due to concerns over allegations of heavy drinking and close ties with defense contractors. Tower became the first cabinet nominee rejected by the Senate in over 30 years.
- 2001 - Linda Chavez (Secretary of Labor)
Nominated by President George W. Bush, Chavez withdrew her nomination after reports surfaced that she had employed an undocumented worker. Although she stated that she had offered the woman temporary shelter rather than formal employment, the controversy led her to step aside. Chavez was the first Latina ever nominated to a cabinet position.
- 2001 - John Ashcroft (Attorney General)
Also nominated by President George W. Bush, Ashcroft’s nomination sparked intense debate because of his conservative views, especially on social issues like abortion and civil rights. Ashcroft was confirmed and went on to be America’s top law enforcement official during the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, and the anthrax debacle targeting biological weapons expert Stephen Hatfill (which by the way is where we got “person-of-interest).
- 2017 - Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education)
DeVos, nominated by President Donald Trump, faced significant opposition due to her lack of experience in public education and her advocacy for charter schools and school vouchers. DeVos’ Senate hearings where so contentious that Vice President Mike Pence had to cast the tie-breaking vote for her confirmation, the first such occurrence in U.S. history.
- 2017 - Tom Price (Secretary of Health and Human Services)
Also nominated by President Donald Trump, Price faced controversy over allegations of insider trading and use of private jets at taxpayer expense. Although his nomination was approved by a Senate committee in February of 2017 by an 11-0 vote (all Democrats boycotted the vote), Price resigned in September amid accusations of ethics violations (he lasted just 231 days). In the summer of 2018, the inspector general of HHS called for the department to recoup $341k from Price for private and military flights he and his staff took that violated federal requirements.
- 2018 - Gina Haspel (CIA Director)
Although not a traditional cabinet secretary, the CIA Director is a high-profile position often considered “cabinet-rank”. Haspel’s nomination was contentious due to her involvement in the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program (which included waterboarding) and allegations of destroying evidence related to the program.
Finally, while we’ve focused on cabinet positions, there are other positions held by individuals designated “cabinet-rank” without having a formal cabinet secretary title (these individuals often sit in on cabinet meetings and have direct access to the President):
- White House Chief of Staff
- U.S. Trade Representative
- Director of the CIA
- Director of National Intelligence
- Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA)