THE PRESIDENTS CABINET

ESTABLISHMENT:
Initially the framers of the constitution did not include the provisions for Cabinet in the
Constitution. It expected the Senate to act as a body of advisors of the President. But because of
the Senates powers to disapprove treaties and appointments made by President, it was difficult
for President to continue such relationship with it. This problem was quickly recognized by the
1st President of the United States; George Washington. Hence he began to consider the
advice of his principle officers in matter of administration. The Presidents meetings with these
advisors are what came to be known as The Cabinet. The Congress used this term more and
more in congressional debates and by 1793, President George Washington had pursued
Congress to recognize the Departments of Foreign Affairs (now called State Department),
department of treasury and department of War. In due time congress fully recognized the
Presidents need to have cabinet and it included the Articles regarding the Cabinet System in
the constitution.
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL STATUS:
Article-II of the constitution provides that the President can require the opinion, in writing, of
the principle officer in each of the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties
of their respective offices. The 25th Amendment provides that the Vice-President and a
majority of the principle officers of the departments can transmit a notice that the President is
unfit for office.

Even though the Cabinet system is as old as the constitution, yet its nature and composition
remains informal. Hence there is nothing definite about its relations with the President. The
Cabinet consists of Principle advisors to the President. President holds meeting with them
mostly to discuss important administrative matters. The Principle advisors are known as
secretaries and President appoints them to different departments. The cabinet in the US is found
under the will of President and functions entirely on Presidential initiative.

The members of the Cabinet hold two kinds of responsibilities. They administer the
departments of federal government and advice President on matters relating to federal
administration. All members of the Cabinet are handpicked by the President himself, but are
subjected to the Senates approval. It is very rarely that Senate rejects Presidents nominations.
SIZE:
There is no definite size of the Presidents cabinet. President may include as many persons to it
as he desires. During George Washingtons Presidency there were only four heads of
departments but as the executive powers of President increased, the number of principle
members also increased and thus the number of persons in Cabinet also increased. The Vice-
President is also a member of the Cabinet and sits in its meetings regularly.
FORMATION:
As said before, the nature of and composition of the Cabinet remains informal. The President
may form the Cabinet in whatever method he likes and nominate whatever people he likes.
However; it is become a trend to distribute seats on geographical basis. Members are chosen
from Eastern, Western and Southern regions of the country. In modern era the Presidents prefer
to choose people from all walks of life e.g.; the recent trend is to include the businessmen, even
though he may not have any political background or knowledge. But he may be useful on
finance and business related matters. Many times the President nominates their personal friends;
President Roosevelt included his friend W.H. Woodin, while President Kennedy inducted his
own brother Robert Kennedy as Attorney General. On many times the cabinet members have
been the past governors of the federating States, ex-senators, representatives and other political
office holders.

Only sensible step taken in formation of the cabinet is that appointments are made on the
ground of the special knowledge and experience or administrative ability of the nominee. For
example; Lawyers are usually nominated for the seat of Attorney General. In order to ensure
that the nominations are based on above elements, the constitution allows the Senate to either
approve or disapprove of Presidents choice.

Unlike in parliamentary system, the American Presidents cabinet is rarely shuffled/

CABINET MEMBER SELECTION PROCESS:
At the moment there are 15 departments for which the President makes choice for his
Secretaries. As discussed before; the President makes his choice of nominee, while the Senate
approves (or disapproves) by a simple majority. The selected secretary cannot hold office in
legislative or judicial branch during his membership of the cabinet.

In addition, the President or Congress can de-select a member and fire or impeach him. The
cabinet member also has right to resign from the office or withdraw his nomination or refuse to
take office. In such case President will have to make a fresh appointment.

CABINET MEETINGS:
Unlike the Congress, the Cabinet is not obliged to formal and regular meetings. The American
cabinet is just an advisory body. President may either have some use or no use of it at all. Hence
it is Presidents choice to whether hold meeting with the cabinet or not. In recent years, the
cabinet is usually summoned once a week and during emergencies they meet for frequently. The
meetings are usually informal, there are no rules or regulations on the discussion and debate and
no official records are kept, except for the rough paper that President may use to write down
some points. The advices in the meetings may be accepted or rejected by the President and no
voting is required.

All and all, the Cabinet is what the President wants it to be. It is the least successful federal
institution and it is unlikely that the President is to make it outstanding. They simply are not a
government, but just a voice of advice in it.