2 - War - August 7, 1789 - The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, also bearing responsibility for naval affairs until the establishment of the Navy Department in 1798, and for most land-based air forces until the creation of the Department of the Air Force on September 18, 1947.
3 - Treasury - September 7, 1789 - The Department of the Treasury (USDT)[2] is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department.[3] The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint. These two agencies are responsible for printing all paper currency and coins, while the treasury executes its circulation in the domestic fiscal system. The USDT collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service; manages U.S. government debt instruments; licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions; and advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of fiscal policy.
4 - Post Office - February 20, 1792 -The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmaster general.
The Postal Service Act, signed by U.S. president George Washington on February 20, 1792, established the department. Postmaster General John McLean, in office from 1823 to 1829, was the first to call it the Post Office Department rather than just the "Post Office." The organization received a boost in prestige when President Andrew Jackson invited his postmaster general, William T. Barry, to sit as a member of the Cabinet in 1829.[1] The Post Office Act of 1872 (17 Stat. 283) elevated the Post Office Department to Cabinet status.
5 - Navy - April 30, 1798 - The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenry, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy (USN);[1] since 1834, it has exercised jurisdiction over the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and, during wartime, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), though each remains an independent service branch.[2] It is led by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), a statutory civilian officer.
6 - Interior - March 3, 1849 - It is responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and insular areas of the United States, as well as programs related to historic preservation. About 75% of federal public land is managed by the department, with most of the remainder managed by the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service.[3] The department was created on March 3, 1849.
7 - Agriculture - May 15, 1862 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production, works to assure food safety, protects natural resources, fosters rural communities and works to end hunger in the United States and internationally.
8 - Justice - July 1, 1870 - a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States
9 - Commerce and Labor - February 14, 1903 - The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with fostering and supervising big business. Calls in the United States for the creation of an executive department of the United States Government devoted to fostering and supervising business and manufacturing can be traced to least as far back as 1787.[1] By the latter decades of the 19th century, the momentum behind the creation of such a department grew, its advocates pointing to the creation of various U.S. executive departments and lower-level agencies to promote and regulate agriculture, fisheries, forestry, labor, mining, and transportation and noting that the United States was virtually alone among the countries of the world in lacking a government agency to perform the same function for commerce and industry.
10 - Commerce - March 4, 1913 - The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision making, and helping to set industrial standards. Its main purpose is to create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and block harmful trade practices of other nations.[3]
10 - Labor - March 4, 1913 - It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and occasionally, economic statistics. The purpose of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the well being of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. In carrying out this mission, the Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations. These mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers.
11 - Defense - September 18, 1947 - an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD is the largest employer in the world,[5] with over 1.34 million active-duty service members (soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians) as of June 2022. The DoD also maintain's over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees.[6] Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - April 11, 1953 - The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was created on April 11, 1953, when Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953 became effective. HEW thus became the first new Cabinet-level department since the Department of Labor was created in 1913. The Reorganization Plan abolished the FSA and transferred all of its functions to the secretary of HEW and all components of the agency to the department. The six major program-operating components of the new department were the Public Health Service, the Office of Education, the Food and Drug Administration, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and St. Elizabeth's Hospital. The department was also responsible for three federally aided corporations: Howard University, the American Printing House for the Blind, and the Columbia Institution for the Deaf (Gallaudet College since 1954).
13 - Housing and Urban Development - September 9, 1965 - It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who reports directly to the President of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.
14 - Transportation - April 1, 1967 - The department's mission is "to develop and coordinate policies that will provide an efficient and economical national transportation system, with due regard for need, the environment, and the national defense." Prior to the creation of the Department of Transportation, its functions were administered by the under secretary of commerce for transportation. In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (predecessor to the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA), suggested to President Lyndon B. Johnson that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT.[3] It was established by Congress in the Department of Transportation Act on October 15, 1966
15 - Energy - August 4, 1977 - oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. The DOE oversees the U.S. nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy-related research, and domestic energy production and energy conservation. The DOE was created in 1977 in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis. It sponsors more physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories.[3] The DOE also directs research in genomics, with the Human Genome Project originating from a DOE initiative.
18 - Veterans Affairs - March 15, 1989 - charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Non-healthcare benefits include disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance. The VA also provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries. While veterans' benefits have been provided by the federal government since the American Revolutionary War, a veteran-specific federal agency was not established until 1930, as the Veterans Administration. In 1982, its mission was extended to a fourth mission to provide care to non-veterans and civilians in case of national emergencies.
19 - Homeland Security - November 25, 2002 - responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management. It began operations in 2003, formed as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, enacted in response to the September 11 attacks. With more than 240,000 employees,[1] DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, after the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.[4] Homeland security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy.
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Independent regulatory agencies
1913 - The Federal Reserve System (often called "the Fed"), is the central bank of the United States. It conducts the nation's monetary policy by influencing the volume of credit and money in circulation. The Federal Reserve regulates private banking institutions, works to contain systemic risk in financial markets, and provides certain financial services to the federal government, the public, and financial institutions.
1914 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws by investigating complaints against individual companies initiated by consumers, businesses, congressional inquiries, or reports in the media. The commission seeks to ensure that the nation's markets function competitively by eliminating unfair or deceptive practices.
1916 - The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, determines the impact of imports on US industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.
1917 - The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent federal agency operating with permanent authorization under the Military Selective Service Act. It is not part of the Department of Defense; however, it exists to serve the emergency manpower needs of the military by conscripting untrained men, or personnel with professional health care skills, if directed by Congress and the president. Its statutory missions also include being ready to administer an alternative service program, in lieu of military service for men classified as conscientious objectors.
1933 - The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), created in 1933, provides economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression.
1933 - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was created by the 1933 Banking Act, enacted during the Great Depression to restore trust in the American banking system. Member banks' insurance dues are the primary source of funding.
1934 - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established to protect investors who buy stocks and bonds. Federal laws require companies that plan to raise money by selling their own securities to file reports about their operations with the SEC, so that investors have access to all material information. The commission has powers to prevent or punish fraud in the sale of securities and is authorized to regulate stock exchanges.
1934 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. It licenses radio and television broadcast stations, assigns radio frequencies, and enforces regulations designed to ensure that cable rates are reasonable. The FCC regulates common carriers, such as telephone and telegraph companies, as well as wireless telecommunications service providers.
1934 - The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) preserves the nation's history by overseeing the management of all federal records. The holdings of the National Archives include original textual materials, motion picture films, sound and video recordings, maps, still pictures, and computer data. The Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are preserved and displayed at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.
1935 - The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the United States federal agency that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; future benefits are based on employee contributions.
1935 - The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administers the principal United States labor law, the National Labor Relations Act. The board is vested with the power to prevent or remedy unfair labor practices and to safeguard employees' rights to organize and determine through elections whether to have a union as their bargaining representative.
1947 - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gathers foreign intelligence and provides national security assessments to policymakers in the United States. It acts as the primary human intelligence provider for the federal government. It is one of the principal members of the Intelligence Community, which is overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which is itself an independent agency.
1949 - The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for the purchase, supply, operation, and maintenance of federal property, buildings, and equipment, and for the sale of surplus items. GSA also manages the federal motor vehicle fleet and oversees remote work centers and civilian child care centers.
1950 - The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
1953 - The Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 to advise, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns. The SBA guarantees loans to small businesses, aids victims of floods and other natural disasters, promotes the growth of minority-owned firms, and helps secure contracts for small businesses to supply goods and services to the federal government.
1958 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the federal government's space agency. It is responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
1961 - The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulates the international ocean transportation of the United States. It is charged with ensuring a competitive and efficient ocean transportation system.[19]
1961 - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides foreign aid and assists with international development.
1967 - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for civil transportation accident analysis in the US.[20] The NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of car accidents, ship and marine accidents, pipeline transport accidents, and rail transport accidents.[21]
1970 - The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) was created in 1971 as the Postal Rate Commission and strengthened under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act enacted in December 2006. Provides regulatory oversight over the activities of the United States Postal Service.
1970 - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works for state and local governments throughout the United States to control and abate environmental pollution and to address problems related to solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances. The EPA sets and enforces standards for air, soil and water quality, evaluates the impact of pesticides and chemical substances, and manages the Superfund program for cleaning toxic waste sites.
1970 - The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
1971 - The United States Postal Service (USPS) is defined by statute as an "independent establishment" of the federal government, which replaced the Cabinet-level Post Office Department. The Postal Service is responsible for the collection, transportation, and delivery of the mails, and for the operation of thousands of local post offices across the country. It also provides international mail service through the Universal Postal Union and other agreements with foreign countries.
1971 - Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is a passenger railroad service that provides intercity service throughout the contiguous United States and parts of Canada.
1972 - The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
1974 - The Federal Election Commission (FEC) oversees campaign financing for all federal elections. The commission oversees election rules as well as reporting of campaign contributions by the candidates.
1975 - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency protects market participants against manipulation, abusive trade practices, and fraud. Through oversight and regulation, the CFTC enables the markets to serve better their important functions in the US economy, providing a mechanism for price discovery and a means of offsetting price risk.
1975 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and opened January 19, 1975. The NRC oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling, and disposal).
1977 - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates. FERC also reviews and authorizes liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, interstate natural gas pipelines, and non-federal hydropower projects.
1979 - The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent investigative and prosecutorial agency that operates a secure channel for federal whistleblower disclosures, protects federal employees from reprisal for whistleblowing, and enforces the restrictions of the Hatch Act on partisan political activity by government employees.
1986 - The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) is one of the smaller Executive Branch agencies, with just over 100 employees. It was established to administer the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which provides federal employees the opportunity to save for additional retirement security. The Thrift Savings Plan is a tax-deferred defined contribution plan similar to a private sector 401(k) plan.
1996 - The Surface Transportation Board (STB) was created in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is decisionally independent, although it is administratively affiliated with the Department of Transportation.
2002 - The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was formed in 2002 to serve as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. It is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment. It is also charged with developing and maintaining a national mail voter registration form.
2011 - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. Its jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors, other financial companies in the United States.
