Executive Office of the President

For other uses, see Office of the President (disambiguation).

Executive Office of the President

Seal of the Executive Office of the President
Flag of the Executive Office of the President
Agency overview
Formed	July 1, 1939 (1939-07-01)
Headquarters	White House
Employees	Approximately 4,000
Agency executive	Reince Priebus, White House Chief of Staff
Parent agency	United States federal government
Website	Executive Office of the President

The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOPOTUS or EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the incumbent President of the United States and multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently Reince Priebus. With the increase in technological and global advancement, the size of the White House staff has increased to include an array of policy experts in order to effectively address various fields of the modern day.

History

In 1939, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term in office, the foundations of the modern White House staff were created. Based on the recommendations of a presidentially commissioned panel of political science and public administration experts that was known as the Brownlow Committee, Roosevelt was able to get Congress to approve the Reorganization Act of 1939. The Act led to Reorganization Plan No. 1, which created the EOP, which reported directly to the president. The EOP encompassed two subunits at its outset: the White House Office (WHO) and the Bureau of the Budget, the predecessor to today's Office of Management and Budget, which had been created in 1921 and originally located in the Treasury Department. It absorbed most of the functions of the National Emergency Council. Initially, the new staff system appeared more ambitious on paper than in practice; the increase in the size of the staff was quite modest at the start. But it laid the groundwork for the large and organizationally complex White House staff that would emerge during the presidencies of Roosevelt's successors.

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building at night.

Roosevelt's efforts are also notable in contrast to those of his predecessors in office. During the nineteenth century, presidents had few staff resources. Thomas Jefferson had one messenger and one secretary at his disposal, both of whose salaries were paid by the president personally. It was not until 1857 that Congress appropriated money ($2,500) for the hiring of one clerk. By Ulysses S. Grant's presidency (1869–1877), the staff had grown to three. By 1900, the White House staff included one "secretary to the president" (then the title of the president's chief aide), two assistant secretaries, two executive clerks, a stenographer, and seven other office personnel. Under Warren G. Harding, the size of the staff expanded to thirty-one, although most were clerical positions. During Herbert Hoover's presidency, two additional secretaries to the president were added by Congress, one of whom Hoover designated as his Press Secretary. From 1933 to 1939, even as he greatly expanded the scope of the federal government's policies and powers in response to the Great Depression, Roosevelt muddled through: his "brains trust" of top advisers were often appointed to vacant positions in agencies and departments, whence they drew their salaries since the White House lacked statutory or budgetary authority to create new staff positions. Ballpark estimates indicate some 2,000 to 2,500 persons serve in EOP staff positions with policy-making responsibilities, with a budget of $300 to $400 million (George W. Bush's budget request for Fiscal Year 2005 was for $341 million in support of 1,850 personnel).

Organization

Senior staff within the Executive Office of the President have the title Assistant to the President, second-level staff have the title Deputy Assistant to the President, and third-level staff have the title Special Assistant to the President.

Very few EOP officials are required to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, although there are a handful exceptions (e.g., the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Chair and members of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the United States Trade Representative). The core White House Staff appointments do not require Senate approval.

The information in the following table is current as of February 17, 2017. Only principal executives are listed; for subordinate officers, see individual office pages.

Agency	Principal executive	Incumbent
White House Office	White House Chief of Staff	Reince Priebus
White House Office	White House Chief Strategist	Steve Bannon
National Security Council	Chair of the National Security Council	Donald Trump
Council of Economic Advisers	Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers	Vacant
Council on Environmental Quality	Managing Director of the Council on Environmental Quality	Vacant
White House Staff and Operations	White House Chief Usher	Angella Reid
Office of Administration	Director of the Office of Administration	Cathy Solomon
Office of Management and Budget	Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Mick Mulvaney
Office of National Drug Control Policy	Director of National Drug Control Policy	Kemp Chester - Acting
Office of Science and Technology Policy	Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy	Vacant
Office of the United States Trade Representative	United States Trade Representative	Stephen Vaughn - Acting
Office of the Vice President of the United States	Chief of Staff to The Vice President of the United States	Josh Pitcock

White House Offices

• Office of the Chief of Staff
• Office of the National Security Advisor
• Domestic Policy Council
• National Economic Council
• Office of Cabinet Affairs
• Office of Communications
• Office of Information Technology
• Office of Digital Strategy
• Office of the First Lady
• Office of Legislative Affairs
• Office of Management and Administration
• Office of Political Affairs
• Office of Presidential Personnel
• Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs
• Office of Scheduling and Advance
• Office of the Staff Secretary
• Oval Office Operations
• White House Counsel

See also

• Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations

External links

• Executive Office of the President
• The Debate Over Selected Presidential Assistants and Advisors: Appointment, Accountability, and Congressional Oversight Congressional Research Service
• Proposed and finalized federal regulations from the Executive Office of the President of the United States
• Works by Executive Office of the President at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Executive Office of the President at Internet Archive