ABSTRACT
The executive branch consists of the major government departments and agencies responsible for carrying out the nation's laws under the president's direction. These governmental organizations perform combination of three functions: carrying out essential government duties, such as defending the nation against attack/conducting international diplomacy; regulating private sector; and transferring federal dollars to third parties. Functionally, the White House staff performs three primary roles: the administrative care and feeding of the president, outreach to key political actors and constituencies, and as a source of policy development and implementation. To accomplish the latter function, the presidency has evolved an elaborate system of White House staff-controlled policy councils, consisting of White House advisers working with the secretaries and their aides from the relevant cabinet departments and agencies. A larger and more specialized White House staff provides presidents, in theory at least, with enhanced control over fundamental administrative processes affecting the executive branch, including budgeting, policy and regulatory planning and development, and personnel hiring.
