Cabinet agencies are defined as which?

• A. Heads of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch
• B. The immediate staff of the President
• C. Agencies outside of the federal executive departments
• D. A government corporation

Answer: (A)

Cabinet agencies are the executive departments—the largest units of the federal bureaucracy within the executive branch. Each department is led by a top official (a secretary for most departments, the Attorney General for Justice) who is one of the President’s most senior appointees and a member of the President’s Cabinet. Because their leaders sit in the Cabinet and guide broad policy areas for the President, these agencies are defined by being headed by those high‑level appointees. They are part of the formal executive structure and distinct from the President’s personal staff, from independent agencies that operate outside the 15 executive departments, and from government corporations. The idea that these agencies are defined by their heads—the senior appointed officials of the executive branch—captures exactly how they are organized and led.