Government Documents: Federal, State, and Local Government

Established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the United States Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers.

The power of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the Federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise.

Whereas the Executive and Legislative branches are elected by the people, members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Defense.
The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security.

"One of the missions of Defense.gov, the official web site for the Department of Defense, is to serve as the starting point for finding U.S. military information online. These DOD Sites pages contribute to that mission by providing these services: A quick-reference listing of the top DOD Sites, Direct access to the databases of all registered DOD Sites."

The official website of the U.S. Department of Education.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The official website of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The official website of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The official website of the U.S. Department of State.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The official website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The official website of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives you the right to request information from federal agencies. From FOIAonline you can submit FOIA requests to all participating agencies, track the status of requests, search for requests submitted by others, access previously released records, and generate agency-specific FOIA processing reports."

To provide better service in alerting the American people to unsafe, hazardous or defective products, six federal agencies with vastly different jurisdictions have joined together to create www.recalls.gov -- a "one stop shop" for U.S. Government recalls.

Discover which parks, forests, lakes, museums, and areas managed by federal agencies offer recreation opportunities near you or your destination. Use interactive maps to get information, plan your trip, or to initiate a reservation online.

"Science.gov searches over 60 databases and over 2200 selected websites from 15 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results. Science.gov is governed by the interagency Science.gov Alliance."

"Serve.gov, the online home of United We Serve, is managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency charged with promoting and fostering volunteering and national service in America."