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executive branch
[ig-zek-yuh-tiv branch]
noun
the branch of government charged with the execution and enforcement of laws and policies and the administration of public affairs; the executive.
executive branch
The branch of federal and state government that is broadly responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. At the state level, the executive includes governors and their staffs. At the federal level, the executive includes the president, the vice president, staffs of appointed advisers (including the cabinet), and a variety of departments and agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Postal Service (see postmaster general). The executive branch also proposes a great deal of legislation to Congress and appoints federal judges, including justices of the Supreme Court. Although the executive branch guides the nation's domestic and foreign policies, the system of checks and balances works to limit its power.
Word History and Origins
Origin of executive branch1
Example Sentences
The Smithsonian is not part of the executive branch, and the president does not choose its Board of Regents.
safeguards, if any, do members of Congress have that might protect their ability to speak freely, and publicly oppose the executive branch?
That’s a far higher percentage of men than work in the executive branch as a whole, where 54% of staffers are male, according to 2024 data from the Office of Personnel Management.
Constitutional scholars and members of Congress also have raised concerns about the executive branch deploying military assets to quell street protests, suggesting such tactics are most commonly used by authoritarian strongmen and dictators.
"This is the United States of America and we will not be intimidated by a wannabe dictator in the executive branch," he wrote.
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