Government Documents Research Guide

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.

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.

"As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states."
quoted from “The House Explained” United States House of Representatives, https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained. 1-21-2021

"The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each state. Senators are elected to serve six year terms. Senators’ terms are staggered so that about one-third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years."
quoted from "The Legislative Branch" The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-legislative-branch/, 1-21-2021

The official website of the United States Supreme Court which includes recent decisions, docket, court rules and court opinions.

"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."