CABINET, a deliberative committee of the executive authority, consisting of 18—Vol.
the principal members of the Govern ment. The cabinet of the President of the United States may be said to be com posed of the heads of the several ad ministrative departments of the Govern ment, although the Constitution does not provide for a "cabinet." They are, in the order of succession to the Presi dency as declared by Acts of Congress: 1. The Secretary of State. 2. The Sec retary of the Treasury. 3. The Secre tary of War. 4. The Attorney-General. 5. The Postmaster-General. 6. The Sec retary of the Navy. 7. The Secretary of the Interior. 8. The Secretary of Ag riculture. 9. The Secretary of Com merce. 10. The Secretary of Labor. They are appointed to office by the Pres ident, but their appointments must be confirmed by the Senate, and they gen erally hold office until their successors are appointed and confirmed. Contrary to foreign systems, the United States cabinet ministers do not have seats in Congress; and the President is respon sible for the acts of the Government.
In Great Britain, the cabinet is the body of ministers who carry on the gov ernment. It is an institution which has
gradually grown out of the needs and exigencies of English political life, and is now an essential part of English polity. As the executive organ of Par liament, it is very elastic, and while sub ject to considerations of use and wont, its action can be suited to the exigencies of time and circumstance. The cabinet includes: The First Lord of the Treas ury, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Pres ident of the Council, the Lord Privy Seal, the five secretaries of state (for Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Colonies. India, and War), the Chancellor of the Excheq uer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Lord Lieutenant or the Chief Secre tary of Ireland, the Presidents of the Board of Trade, the Board of Agricul ture and Fisheries, the Board of Educa tion, the Ministers of Health, Labor, and Transport. Other ministers, like the Postmaster-, Attorney-, Solicitor-, and Paymaster-General are not members of the cabinet.