The United States Cabinet is a branch of the Executive Office and is composed of unelected members and has been in existence ever since the time of President George Washington. The members of cabinet are said to be the closest advisers of the President. However, this is relative to the purposes the President uses them for. Cabinet members are appointed by the President but are only fully put in authority upon acquiring a majority vote of confirmation from the Senate.
The Cabinet is only indirectly referred to in the constitution and its roles do not usually put it in direct contact with the members and activities of Senate. The Senate also does not have duties or activities that link it directly with any of the members of the Presidential Cabinet. This is excepting the one task of confirming or rejecting the individuals the President wishes to appoint as Cabinet members. There thus remains a question of how the United States Cabinet, composed of the Secretaries of various departments of the government, collaborates with the Senate.
The collaboration between the two is essential as the Senate is the more powerful legislative body as it holds the powers of the Congress and other additional powers such as the ratification of Presidential treaties and agreements before they can be implemented, investigation of issues of national interest, and even of becoming the only jurors upon processing of impeachment cases against the President. The United States Senate is presided over by the Vice President of the United States. Although a president pro tempore is present, this individual only presides in cases when the Vice President is absent during senate sessions.
The United States Cabinet also has weekly meetings. These are conducted with the President, Vice President and other members as called for by the situation. It may be that collaboration of the Senate an United States Cabinet occur in this meetings. The Vice President, being the presiding officer of the senate, brings to the table the ideas and opinions of the Senate with regards to matters brought up by the Cabinet. However, collaboration is mostly achieved through the counterchecking of the actions and proposals of the Cabinet via the President.
As the Presidential Cabinet is the advising body of the President, all proposals of the President have passed through the hands of its members. The only exemption is in cases wherein the President does not fully make use of his or her Cabinet. With the President’s proposal of treaties, agreements, plans of actions, and other such matters, the Senate has the choice to either revoke or approve these. Likewise, certain decisions of the Senate may be repealed by the President who will be advised properly by his or her Cabinet members. Thus collaboration between the two bodies is indirect.
The actions of one affect the other. This system of indirect collaboration may prove to be more beneficial because it allows for independent and isolated formation of opinions and arguments regarding one policy or plan of action. A single treaty, for example, must then undergo two different bodies with different ways of attacking its strong and weak points before it can be put into realization. This makes for a stronger legislative and executive process. Works Cited Rudalevige, Andrew. The Presidency and the Political System, 8th ed. Washington, D. C. :CQ Press, 2006
