United States federal executive departments

The United States federal executive departments are the principal 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 7 executive departments.

Each department is headed by a secretary of their respective department, with the exception of the Department of Justice, whose head is known as the attorney general. 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.

Current departments

Seal	Department	Formed	Employees	Head
	State	2013	6	Hankwim55 Secretary of State
	Treasury	2013	2	VACANT Secretary of the Treasury
	Defense	2013		RoFiles Secretary of Defense
	Justice	2013	57	RummyLeroux Attorney General
	Commerce and Labor	2016	0	TacticalOwen Secretary of Commerce and Labor
	Transportation	2013	25	ZhangJinping Secretary of the Treasury
	Homeland and Security	2013	15	akacoolguy96 Secretary of Homeland and Security

Former departments

Seal	Department	Formed	Removed from Cabinet	Superseded by
	Housing and Urban Development	2013	2018
	Interior	2013	2015
	Health and Human Services	2013	2016
	Technology and Innovation	2013	Unknown
	Education	2013	2018
	Commerce	2013	2016	Department of Commerce and Labor
	Labor	2013	2016	Department of Commerce and Labor
	Strategic Command	July 22, 2020	October 6, 2020
	Veterans Affairs	2013	Furloughed, not officially shutdown.