Executive Office Analysis

The third section allows the President to make the Vice President the Acting President with a written declaration. Section 4 is for emergency use only. It states that the Vice President and members of the Cabinet have the ability to declare the President unable to carry out the duties of the Presidency. All sections of the 25th amendment have been used except for the 4th section.
Many of the president’s closest advisors work with her/him in the Executive Office. The president appoints the Cabinet and that is the main advisory body to the President. Since all members of the Executive Office are unelected they do not have the ability to decide policy. When the Cabinet is in the Cabinet room, the president is the only member to be elected. The

Cabinet secretary is, politically, the head of the Executive department. The Cabinet Secretary can influence the public every four years for presidential elections. The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranked employee in the White House. The Chief of Staff is appointed by and serves the President. The duties of the Chief of Staff is to watch over the actions of the White House Staff, manages the president’s schedule, and decides who and when they are allowed to meet with the president. The Chief of Staff also helps advise the President with different issues.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires the President to periodically give information on “the state of the union’. This is why annually the President addresses the condition of the nation to a joint session of the Congress. The State of Union also allows the President to state his or her legislative agenda and national priorities. Until radio and television came along, the president sent in a written report to Congress. Once these inventions came along it became a speech from the President to the people of the nation instead of a letter from the President to Congress.
The President’s Cabinet was established in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution stating that its role is to help the President with any issue she/he has relating to each member’s duties.

There are 15 departments in the President’s Cabinet plus the Vice President (Joe Biden).The Department of State (Secretary John Kerry) helps the President with relationships with other countries by maintaining foreign policies and helping with foreign policy issues. The Department of the Treasury (Secretary Jack Lew) reports the financial state of the government to the President and Congress. The Department of Defense (Secretary Ashton Carter) looks over every aspect of the nation’s military security. The Department of Justice (Attorney General Loretta Lynch) watches over U.S district attorneys, marshals, and prisons. The Department of the Interior (Secretary Sally Jewell) protects the environment and builds up the country’s national resources. The Department of Agriculture (Secretary Thomas Vilsack) makes sure the prices are fair for the producers of the agriculture and the consumers. The Department of Commerce (Secretary Penny Pritzker) promotes economic growth, technological advancement, and international trade. Department of Labor (Secretary Thomas Perez) protects the rights of workers and their work conditions. The Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell) administers Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to the public. The Department of Housing

and Urban Development (Secretary Julian Castro) issues fair housing laws and provides affordable housing and rent grants. The Department of Transportation (Secretary Anthony Foxx) sets the transportation policy. The Department of Energy (Secretary Ernest Moniz) researches and develops advancements in energy technology and production. The Department of Education (Secretary Arne Duncan) issues more than 150 education programs to the public. The Department of Veterans Affairs (Secretary Robert McDonald) offers services and benefits to veterans. The Department of Homeland Security (Secretary Jeh Johnson) protects the country against terrorism. This department was created after 9/11.
The third and final branch of the government is the Judicial Branch. The Judicial Branch is made up of several different types of courts. The Supreme Court is superior to all other courts. Article III of the Constitution states that any person accused of wrongdoing has the right to a fair trial.
The Judicial Branch has several checks on the other two branches. They have checks on the Executive branch such as they have the power of judicial review to rule laws unconstitutional. They check on the Legislative Branch by also using judicial review to declare presidential actions unconstitutional. Supreme Court can also use the power of judicial review to rule treaties unconstitutional.
There are three separate routes a case can go through to be heard in the Supreme Court.

The first route is when a case is under the court’s “Original Jurisdiction”. This means the Supreme Court hears it directly. The most common way for a case to enter the Supreme Court is by receiving an appeal from a Circuit Court. The Circuit Court can file a petition to the Supreme Court for a writ of Certiorari to the party. The Court will only grant a writ of Certiorari to the party if 4 of 9 justices vote to do so. The Supreme Court chooses which cases will be heard and only a few cases who petition for Certiorari will receive it. If a case does not make it to the Supreme Court the decision of the lower court is final. The third way a case makes it to the Supreme Court is through an appeal from a state supreme court. The Supreme Court will never challenge a ruling from a state court on an issue of the state’s laws. The Supreme Court will grant Certiorari if the state court’s ruling is related to Constitutional

problems.
In the case Marbury v. Madison in 1803, judicial review had not been confirmed yet. That changed when Chief Justice John Marshall invoked it. He stated that the Supreme Court’s responsibility to overturn unconstitutional legislation was a consequence of its sworn duty to uphold the constitution. The final outcome of this case was that Marbury lost which meant he and his appointees could not receive papers from Madison stating that they had been commissioned as Justices of the Peace in the District of Columbia. This case also established checks the judicial branch could use on the other two branches. In the case Ladue v. Gilleo in 1994 Margaret Gilleo placed a yard sign for peace in the Persian Gulf. The city she lived in had a law against yard signs and told her to take it down. Gilleo sued the city for violating her 1st amendment rights. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts stating that she violated the 1st amendment, which protects from political speech.
State and Federal courts are both divided into different parts. Courts of Special Jurisdiction deal with specific types of cases and typically have simplified rules of evidence that speed up the process. Trial courts are normally where cases start. Criminal and Civil are the two types of trial courts. Appellate Courts are for when the judge makes a mistake in the trial procedure or law. The certain part can then appeal the case to the appellate court. The final and highest ranked court is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is for when the appellate court also makes a mistake or if the certain party thinks it is unjust and needs to be reviewed. However as previously stated only a fraction of cases actually make it to the Supreme Court.
This government was created by the founding fathers to help this country succeed. The government and its branches have had to go through many different changes since then, but it has been for the good. Each branch now has the ability to keep each other from becoming overpowered. This country and government will have to continue to change, but as long as we follow the main principles of the founding fathers this country will succeed just as they envisioned.