Federal Government
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CHAPTER 3 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT President Truman and Winston Churchill in Fulton, MO, 1946. Gerald R. Massie 100 OFFICIAL MANUAL Members, President Obama’s Cabinet Joseph R. Biden, Vice President www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident John Kerry, Secretary of State United States www.state.gov Jack Lew, Secretary, Department of the Treasury Government www.treasury.gov Chuck Hagel, Secretary, Department of Defense www.defense.gov Executive Branch Eric H. Holder Jr., Attorney General, Department Barack H. Obama, President of the United States of Justice The White House www.usdoj.gov 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500 Sally Jewell, Secretary, Department of the Interior Telephone: (202) 456-1414 www.doi.gov www.whitehouse.gov Thomas J. Vilsack, Secretary, Department of Agriculture The president and the vice president of the www.usda.gov United States are elected every four years by a ma- Penny Pritzker, Secretary, Department of jority of votes cast in the Electoral College. These Commerce votes are cast by delegates from each state who www.commerce.gov traditionally vote in accordance with the majority Thomas E. Perez, Secretary, Department of Labor www.dol.gov of the state’s voters. States have as many electoral Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Department of college votes as they have congressional del- Health and Human Services egates. Missouri has 10 electoral college votes— www.hhs.gov one for each of the eight U.S. Congress districts Shaun L.S. Donovan, Secretary, Department of and two for the state’s two seats in the U.S. Senate. Housing and Urban Development The president is the chief executive of the Unit- www.hud.gov ed States, with powers to command the armed Anthony Foxx, Secretary, Department of Transportation forces, control foreign policy, grant reprieves and www.dot.gov pardons, make certain appointments, execute all Ernest Moniz, Secretary, Department of Energy laws passed by Congress and present the admin- www.energy.gov istration’s budget. The president earns $400,000 Arne Duncan, Secretary, Department of Education annually, with an allowance for expenses. www.ed.gov The vice president is selected by members of Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary, Department of each national political committee and runs on Veterans Affairs www.va.gov the same ticket for the same term as the presi- Rand Beers, Acting Secretary, Department of dent. The vice president assumes the presidency Homeland Security if the president dies or resigns from the offi ce, is www.dhs.gov incapacitated to the extent that he or she cannot exercise presidential duties for an extended pe- In addition to secretaries of the cabinet, the riod or is impeached. The vice president presides president maintains a White House staff of advis- ers who serve at his pleasure. over the functions of the U.S. Senate and acts as emissary of the president. The vice president earns $231,900 annually. President Obama’s Executive Offi cers The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the with Cabinet Rank beginnings of the presidency itself. Established in Denis McDonough, White House Chief of Staff Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, the www.whitehouse.gov Cabinet’s role is to advise the president on any Gina McCarthy, Administrator, Environmental subject he or she may require relating to the du- Protection Agency ties of each member’s respective offi ce. It is made www.epa.gov up of 15 cabinet members (or secretaries) who Sylvia Burwell, Director, Offi ce of Management and Budget have the responsibility to operate each depart- www.whitehouse.gov/omb ment. Secretaries are appointed by the president Michael Froman, Ambassador, United States and serve at his or her pleasure. Cabinet secretar- Trade Representative ies earn $199,700 annually. www.ustr.gov UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 101 Samantha Power, Ambassador, United States impeachment and trial by Congress. Justices re- Mission to the United Nations ceive $213,900 annually while the chief justice, www.usun.state.gov who leads the court, earns $223,500. Jason Furman, Chair, Council of Economic The Supreme Court concerns itself with na- Advisers tional issues or matters concerning the consti- www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea tutionality of certain laws or fi ndings. Decisions Jeanne Hulit, Acting Administrator, Small of the court are binding and overrule any other Business Administration court decision. www.sba.gov Legislative Branch Members, United States Supreme Court 1 First St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20543 www.house.gov / www.senate.gov Telephone: (202) 479-3211 www.supremecourtus.gov The U.S. Constitution provides for two legisla- tive houses, known as the Congress. The Senate John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice; is composed of 100 members; two senators are Antonin Scalia, associate justice; elected from each state. The House of Represen- Anthony M. Kennedy, associate justice; tatives is composed of 435 members; the num- Clarence Thomas, associate justice; ber of representatives is determined based on the Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice; population of each state. Steven G. Breyer, associate justice; Senators must be at least 30 years of age and Samuel A. Alito Jr., associate justice; be residents of the United States for at least nine Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice; years. They also must reside in the state they are Elena Kagan, associate justice. elected to represent. Senators serve terms of six years, with one-third of the Senate membership Other Federal Courts elected every two years. Senators earn $174,000 Immediately below the Supreme Court are annually, plus expenses. the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. District Representatives must be at least 25 years of Courts. The Courts of Appeals operate in 11 re- age and must have been residents of the United gions and the District of Columbia. Missouri is States for at least seven years. They also must re- served by the Eighth Circuit. Appeals Court judg- side in the state they represent. Representatives es earn $184,500 annually. serve two-year terms and earn $174,000 annu- There are 94 U.S. District Court districts with ally, plus expenses. federal jurisdiction. Two of these are located in Congress is in session for two years, begin- Missouri: the Eastern Missouri District and the ning on January 3 of each year unless another Western Missouri District. Eastern District courts date is specifi ed. The presiding offi cer of the Sen- are located in St. Louis, Hannibal and Cape ate is the vice president of the United States. The Girardeau, and the Western District courts are Senate also elects a president pro tem of the Sen- in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfi eld, Jefferson ate to serve in the absence of the vice president. City and Joplin. Federal charges stemming from The president pro tem also represents the party in both civil and criminal suits generally begin in power and earns $193,400. The presiding offi cer U.S. District Court. Judges in these courts earn of the House is called the speaker. The speaker $174,000 annually. traditionally represents the party in majority and For information on other agencies or pro- earns $223,500. grams of the U.S. government operating in Mis- souri, contact the Federal Information Center, Rm. 2616 Federal Building, 1520 Market St., St. Judicial Branch Louis 63103, phone (toll free) (800) 333-4636 The U.S. Supreme Court heads the nation’s ju- ((800) FED-INFO). dicial branch of government. The Supreme Court is composed of nine justices, appointed for life. *All salary information provided by the Congres- Supreme Court justices may only be removed by sional Research Service. UNITED STATES PRESIDENT 103 Barack H. Obama United States President Elected November 4, 2008 Term expires January 2017 Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he United States. returned to Chicago to help lead a voter regis- His story is the American story — values tration drive, teach constitutional law at the Uni- from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing versity of Chicago and remain active in his com- in a strong family, hard work and education as munity. the means of getting ahead, and the conviction President Obama’s years of public service are that a life so blessed should be lived in service based around his unwavering belief in the ability to others. to unite people around a politics of purpose. In With a father from Kenya and a mother from the Illinois State Senate, he passed the fi rst major Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his families, and expanded health care for children grandfather, who served in Patton’s army, and his and their parents. As a United States Senator, he grandmother, who worked her way up from the reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking secretarial pool to middle management at a bank. lobbying reform, lock up the world’s most dan- gerous weapons and bring transparency to gov- After working his way through college with ernment by putting federal spending online. the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he He was elected the 44th president of the Unit- worked with a group of churches to help rebuild ed States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on communities devastated by the closure of local January 20, 2009. He and his wife Michelle are steel plants. the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11. He went on to attend law school, where he became the fi rst African-American president of UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT 105 Joseph R. Biden Jr.