White House Staff
Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, the cabinet played a critical role in advising and counseling the president. Outside of personal servants, clerical helpers, and aides, the president had almost no White House staff to help with the administration of the executive branch. President Herbert Hoover actually took some heat for doubling the White House staff from two to four — a move that did not sit well with Congress.
This all changed, however, with the dramatic expansion of the federal government during the Roosevelt administration. As the New Deal became law, dozens of agencies were created to administer the new programs. Roosevelt understood that the White House required increased staff to properly administer and oversee these new federal programs.
Executive Office of the President
In 1939, President Roosevelt proposed a major reorganization of the executive branch. Although Congress rejected most of FDR's proposal, it authorized the creation of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) as a way to staff the White House. In its first year, the EOP created six positions to help Roosevelt discharge his duties. Today, the EOP consists of ten staff agencies with more than 600 employees working at the White House.
Of the ten staff agencies created by the EOP, four in particular make up the majority of the White House staff:
White House Office. Established in 1939, it is the oldest and most influential staff agency within the White House. Personnel in this department include the chief of staff, press secretary, communications director, legal counsel, appointments secretary, senior advisors, and others who look out for the political interests of the president. Campaign veterans and longtime allies usually serve in these positions, and they tend to have the most access to, and influence with, the president.
National Security Council. Created at the onset of the cold war, the primary function of the National Security Council (NSC) is to advise the president on domestic and foreign policy matters involving national security. The council consists of nineteen members, including the vice president, secretary of defense, secretary of state, and the national security advisor, one of the highest profile positions in the administration. The NSC has more than 200 staff members who monitor global events on a twenty-four-hour basis from the situation room of the West Wing of the White House.
Council of Economic Advisors. Established in 1946, this three-member group advises the president on issues relating to the economy. Its main responsibility is to devise economic policy and prepare the president's annual economic report to Congress. The president's primary economic advisor during the campaign usually serves as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
The Office of Management and Budget. Reorganized during the Nixon administration, the primary responsibilities of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are to prepare the annual budget, help set fiscal policy, and supervise the administration of the federal budget. The director of the OMB is considered the “chief accountant” for the federal budget.
The other six staff agencies of the Executive Office of the President include the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Office of Policy Development.
The Staff's Roles
Since World War II, the White House staff has gradually supplanted the cabinet as the nucleus of the administration and the president's chief policy advisors. As the Executive Office of the President has grown in size, so too have its responsibilities.
Because campaign loyalists, personal friends, and longtime allies of the president staff a vast majority of the EOP positions, modern presidents have grown increasingly comfortable with their staffs setting policy direction, drafting legislation, devising legislative strategy, and communicating the agenda — tasks once handled primarily by the cabinet. The White House staff is also aided by its close proximity and regular access to the president — two crucial ingredients when exercising power in the executive branch.
Policy initiatives that originate from the cabinet are usually reviewed and sometimes revised by the White House staff before meeting the president's approval. At times, this process has been the source of friction between the White House and the cabinet. Richard Nixon believed that his cabinet was captive of the bureaucracy, and regularly encouraged his staff to undermine them. President Lyndon Johnson and his staff spent considerable time figuring out ways to circumvent his department heads. President Clinton's staff simply ignored policy overtures from the cabinet a good deal of the time.
Relations between President Carter's staff and cabinet grew so strained that a presidential retreat was held at the Catoctin Mountains so that the two camps could work out their differences. Apparently, little was accomplished — not long after, the president fired nearly half of his cabinet and appointed a new chief of staff.
In addition to assuming greater responsibilities, the White House staff has also taken on a higher media profile in recent years. It's not unusual for as many as a half-dozen West Wing staffers to regularly appear as administration spokespersons on television news programs. In the age of the twenty-four-hour news cycle, it has become more practical for White House staffers — not cabinet members — to set the agenda, respond to events, and “spin” policy positions through the media.
