The Cabinet

The Cabinet is an advisory body made up of the heads of the 15 executive departments. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the members of the Cabinet are often the President's closest confidants. In addition to running major federal agencies, they play an important role in the Presidential line of succession — after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and Senate President pro tempore, the line of succession continues with the Cabinet offices in the order in which the departments were created. All the members of the Cabinet take the title Secretary, excepting the head of the Justice Department, who is styled Attorney General.

9) The us congress. The capital building

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election. Each of the 435 members of the House of Representatives represents a district and serves a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population. Each state, regardless of population, has two senators; since there are fifty states, there are one hundred senators who serve six-year terms. The terms are staggered, so every two years, approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. While it's theoretically possible to have total turnover in the House every two years and in the Senate every six years, actual turnover is much less, since most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90%.^[1]

The Structure of Congress

Congress is split into two branches––House and Senate––and manages the huge task of writing national legislation by dividing work into separate committees which specialize in different areas. Some congresspersons are elected by their peers to be officers of these committees. Further, Congress has ancillary organizations such as the Government Accountability Office and the Library of Congress to help provide it with information, and congresspersons have staff and offices to assist them as well. In addition, a vast industry of lobbyists helps congresspersons write legislation on behalf of diverse corporate and labor interests.

Specialization. The committee structure permits congresspersons to study a particular subject intensely. It is neither expected nor possible that a member of Congress be an expert on all subject areas before Congress.^[102] As time goes by, members develop expertise in particular subjects and their legal aspects. Committees investigate specialized subjects and advise the entire Congress about choices and tradeoffs. The choice of specialty may be influenced by the member's constituency, important regional issues, prior background and experience.^[103] Senators often choose a different specialty from that of the other senator from their state to prevent overlap.^[104] Some committees specialize in running the business of other committees and exert a powerful influence over all legislation; for example, the House Ways and Means Committee has considerable influence over House affairs.^[105]

Power. Committees write legislation. While procedures such as the House discharge petition process can introduce bills to the House floor and effectively bypass committee input, they're exceedingly difficult to implement without committee action. Committees have power and have been called independent fiefdoms. Legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks are divided among about two hundred committees and subcommittees which gather information, evaluate alternatives, and identify problems.^[106] They propose solutions for consideration by the full chamber.^[106] In addition, they perform the function of oversight by monitoring the executive branch and investigating wrongdoing.^[106]

Officers. At the start of each two-year session the House elects a speaker who does not normally preside over debates but serves as its majority leader. In the Senate, the Vice President is the ex officio president of the Senate. In addition, the Senate elects an officer called the President pro tempore. Pro tempore means for the time being and this office is usually held by the most senior member of the Senate's majority party and customarily keeps this position until there's a change in party control. Accordingly, the Senate does not necessarily elect a new president pro tempore at the beginning of a new Congress.

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the District are divided. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, only the east front of the building was intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.