William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

438 Chapter 12Chapter 12 || The PresidencyThe Presidency

The Executive Office of the President

The executive branch’s organizational chart begins with the Executive Office of the

President (EOP), which has employed about 1,800 people in recent administrations.

About one-third of these employees are concentrated in two offices: the Office of

Management and Budget, which develops the president’s budget proposals and

monitors spending by government agencies, and the Office of the United States Trade

Representative, which negotiates trade agreements with other nations. Nuts & Bolts 12.4

lists the organizations that make up the EOP.

One of the most important duties of EOP staff is helping presidents achieve their

policy goals and get reelected. In the Trump White House, for example, Senior

Adviser Stephen Miller focuses on domestic policy (especially immigration policy)

but also helps write Trump’s speeches, including the 2018 State of the Union address.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her spouse, Jared Kushner, also play important

advisory roles. These three individuals, as well as other influential EOP staff, occupy

offices in the West Wing of the White House. The West Wing contains the president’s

office, known as the Oval Office, and space for the president’s chief aide and

personal secretary, as well as senior aides such as the vice president, the president’s

press secretary, and the chief of staff (for Trump, retired general John Kelly), who

manages all aspects of White House operations—including, as former Reagan chief

of staff James Baker put it, who gets to play tennis on the White House courts. Some

recent chiefs of staff have been central in the development of policy proposals and

negotiations with members of Congress. However, the chief of staff serves as the

agent of the president—what matters is what the president wants, not a chief of staff ’s

policy preferences.

Most EOP staff members are presidential appointees who retain their positions

only as long as the president who appointed them remains in office. These individuals

are often drawn to government service out of loyalty to the president or because

they share the president’s policy goals. However, most leave their positions after two

Executive Office of the

President (EOP)

The group of policy-related offices

that serve as support staff to the

president.

You don’t need to know who’s

playing on the White House

tennis court to be a good

president.

—James Baker, former White

House chief of staff

NUTS

& B O LT S

12.4

Council of Economic Advisers Office of National Drug Control Policy

Council on Environmental Quality Office of Science and Technology Policy

Domestic Policy Council Office of the First Lady

Homeland Security Council Office of the United States Trade Representative

National Economic Council President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board

National Security Council Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

Office of Administration USA Freedom Corps

Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives White House Fellows Office

Office of Management and Budget White House Military Office

Office of National AIDS Policy White House Office

The Executive

Office of the

President

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