Also known as: executive departments · cabinet department
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A principal administrative unit of the federal executive branch headed by an officer whose written opinion the President may require on matters relating to official duties.
President Keller directed Secretary Lopez of the Department of Agriculture to submit a written assessment of how a new subsidy statute would affect crop prices nationwide. Lopez prepared and delivered the assessment to the White House within the requested timeframe. The assessment informed the President's decision on whether to seek additional legislative changes.
Elise Everly, a former assistant secretary in the Department of Defense, faced a damages suit for actions taken while supervising procurement contracts. She moved to dismiss on grounds of official immunity. The court evaluated whether her role within an executive department shielded the conduct from liability.
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Ewan Eckhart served as an independent counsel investigating alleged misconduct by an executive department head. The Attorney General sought to limit the scope of the investigation. The court assessed whether the counsel's placement outside normal department channels complied with constitutional appointment rules.
Edith Eberhardt sued the Department of the Interior after it approved a project affecting wildlife habitats. She claimed the approval violated statutory consultation requirements. The court examined whether her injury was traceable to action by an executive department sufficient to confer standing.
Erika Echevarria faced deportation after the Attorney General suspended her removal under a statute later subject to a one-house veto. She argued the veto mechanism improperly allowed congressional override of an executive department decision. The court considered the separation of powers implications for executive department functions.
Elijah Edwards sought a writ compelling the Secretary of State to deliver a judicial commission signed by the President. The Secretary refused on grounds that the appointment process remained incomplete. The court determined whether the executive department head could be ordered to perform a ministerial duty.
Congress may create non-Article III tribunals within executive departments to perform a mix of administrative and adjudicatory functions as part of a regulatory program. Such tribunals need not be staffed exclusively by life-tenured judges. The key limit is that the tribunal must remain within the legislative scheme and leave ultimate judicial review available where Article III requires it.
Supporting sources
The President must execute statutes as written and may not direct subordinates to ignore unambiguous statutory commands. Ordering an executive department to exceed a statutory cap substitutes presidential policy for congressional command. Such an instruction exceeds the executive power and violates the constitutional duty of faithful execution.
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An officer is inferior when duties are limited in jurisdiction and tenure and the officer remains subject to supervision and good-cause removal by a principal executive officer. Limited jurisdiction to a single matter plus removal by the Attorney General satisfies the inferior-officer standard. Congress may therefore vest appointment of such an officer in a court of law.
Supporting sources
…to vest the appointment of inferior officers in that department of the government, executive or judicial, or in that particular executive department to which the duties of such officers appertain. But there is no absolute requirement to this effect in the Constitution; and, if there were, it would be difficult in many cases to determine…