The federal government contains a myriad of agencies, bureaus, corporations, offices, commissions, administrations, authorities, and boards, most of which are organized under 15 cabinet-level, executive-branch departments headed by a secretary: for example, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Education. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) contains agencies that support the work of the president: for example, the National Security Council (NSC), the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

And then there are the many independent executive and regulatory agencies of the federal government: for example, the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).