The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments: the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.
The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. Established in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, the Cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office.
The following are the members of President Barack Obama's cabinet:
- Secretary of State: John Kerry
- Secretary of the Treasury: Jacob Lew
- Secretary of Defense: Ashton B. Carter
- Attorney General: Eric Holder
- Secretary of the Interior: Sally Jewell
- Secretary of Agriculture: Tom J. Vilsack
- Secretary of Commerce: Penny Pritzker
- Secretary of Labor: Thomas E. Perez
- Secretary of Health and Human Services: Sylvia Mathews Burwell
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Julián Castro
- Secretary of Transportation: Anthony Foxx
- Secretary of Energy: Ernest Moniz
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Robert McDonald
- Secretary of Homeland Security: Jeh Johnson
In buzz, Hillary Clinton’s long-awaited announcement that she is indeed running for president represents more than just the possibility that she could become the first woman president, or even the first former first lady to move back into the White House by general election.
Should Clinton win the Democratic nomination next year, she’d be the first former Cabinet secretary in 88 years to become a major party’s official choice for president. Read more at Pew Research Center.
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