Officers

Federal

The federal government’s key officers as of March 1, 2021 were as follows:

President

The President is both the head of state and head of government of the US, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Under Article II of the US Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent federal commissions, such as the Federal Reserve Board or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as federal judges, ambassadors, and other federal offices.

Mr. Biden is the 46^th President of the US. Mr. Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on November 20, 1942, the first of four children to Joseph Sr. and Catherine Biden. Mr. Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council. At age 29, Mr. Biden became one of the youngest people ever elected to the US Senate. Mr. Biden represented Delaware for 36 years in the US Senate before becoming the 47^th Vice President of the US. After leaving the White House, Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden continued their efforts to expand opportunity for every American with the creation of the Biden Foundation, the Biden Cancer Initiative, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware. On April 25, 2019, Mr. Biden announced his candidacy for President of the United States. 

Vice President

The primary responsibility of the Vice President of the US is to be ready at a moment’s notice to assume the Presidency if the President is unable to perform his duties. This can be because of the President’s death, resignation, or temporary incapacitation, or if the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet judge that the President is no longer able to discharge the duties of the presidency. The Vice President also serves as the President of the US Senate, where he or she casts the deciding vote in the case of a tie.

Mrs. Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964, to parents who emigrated from India and Jamaica. Mrs. Harris graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In 1990, Mrs. Harris joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office where she specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. She then served as a managing attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later was chief of the Division on Children and Families for the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Mrs. Harris was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003. In 2010, Mrs. Harris was elected California’s Attorney General and oversaw the largest state justice department in the US. In 2017, Mrs. Harris was sworn into the US Senate representing California. On August 11, 2020, Mrs. Harris accepted President Biden’s invitation to become his running mate. She is the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected Vice President.

Speaker of the House

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives is elected by the majority party to lead the House. The Speaker presides over debate, appoints members of select and conference committees, establishes the legislative agenda, maintains order within the House, and administers the oath of office to House members. The individual in this office is second in the line of presidential succession, following the Vice President.

Mrs. Pelosi is the House Speaker of the US House of Representatives for the 117^th Congress having previously served as the House Minority Leader. From 2007 to 2011, Mrs. Pelosi served as Speaker of the House, the first woman to do so in American history. For 31 years, Leader Pelosi has represented San Francisco, California’s 12^th District, in Congress. She has led House Democrats for 16 years and previously served as House Democratic Whip. Mrs. Pelosi comes from a family tradition of public service. Her late father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., served as Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also served as Mayor of Baltimore. She graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C.

House Majority Leader

The House of Representatives has chosen majority and minority leaders since the 19^th century to expedite legislative business and to keep their parties united. These leaders are elected every two years in secret balloting of the party caucus or conference. The House Majority Leader is charged with: scheduling legislation for floor consideration; planning the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; consulting with members to gauge party sentiment; and, generally, working to advance the goals of the majority party.

Mr. Hoyer has served Maryland’s 5^th district since 1981 and is currently the Majority Leader in the US House of Representatives. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Hoyer served as House Majority Leader, which made him the highest-ranking member of Congress from Maryland in history. He previously served as House Democratic Whip from 2003 to 2007 and from 2011 to 2019. He graduated from the University of Maryland and received his law degree from Georgetown University. At the age of 27, he won a seat in the Maryland Senate and in 1975, he was elected President of the Senate, the youngest ever in Maryland state history.

House Minority Leader

The House Minority Leader serves as floor leader of the “loyal opposition” and is the minority counterpart to the Speaker. Although many of the basic leadership responsibilities of the minority and majority leaders are similar, the Minority Leader speaks for the minority party and its policies and works to protect the minority’s rights.

Mr. McCarthy serves California’s 23^rd district and is currently the Minority Leader in the US House of Representatives. He previously served as Majority Leader of the House from 2014 to 2019. Mr. McCarthy was first elected to Congress in 2006 and is a native of Bakersfield and a fourth-generation Kern County resident. At the age of 21, he started his own small business, Kevin O’s Deli. He later sold his business to put himself through college and graduate school at California State University, Bakersfield. While at school, he interned for Congressman Bill Thomas and later became a member of Congressman Thomas’s staff. In 2000, he won his first public election as Trustee to the Kern Community College District and then, in 2002, he was elected to represent the 32^nd Assembly District in the California State Assembly. As a freshman legislator, Mr. McCarthy was selected by his Republican colleagues to serve as the Assembly Republican Leader, becoming the first freshman legislator and the first legislator from Kern County to assume this top post in the California Legislature. After he was elected to Congress in 2006, Mr. McCarthy became Chief Deputy Whip and later served as Majority Whip.

Senate Majority Leader

The primary functions of a Majority Leader usually relate to floor duties. The Senate Majority Leader is the lead speaker for the majority party during floor debates, develops the calendar, and assists the President or Speaker with program development, policy formation, and policy decisions.

Mr. Schumer was born in Brooklyn, NY to parents Selma, a homemaker active in the community, and Abe, who owned a small exterminating business. After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School in 1974, Mr. Schumer returned home and was elected to the New York State Assembly. In 1980, at 29, he ran for and won the seat in the 9^th Congressional District (CD). Mr. Schumer represented the 9^th CD in Brooklyn and Queens for 18 years. In 1998, he was elected to the US Senate. Following the elections of 2006, Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed Mr. Schumer to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Conference, the number three position on the Democratic Leadership team.

Senate Minority Leader

The Minority Leader is the principal leader of the minority caucus. The Senate Minority Leader is responsible for: developing the minority position, negotiating with the majority party, directing minority caucus activities on the chamber floor, and leading debate for the minority.

Mr. McConnell graduated with honors from the University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences and is also a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. First elected to the Senate in 1984, he was elected Majority Leader in the US Senate by his Republican colleagues first in 2014 and again in 2016. Mr. McConnell previously served as the Republican Leader from the 110^th through the 113^th Congresses, as the Majority Whip in the 108^th and 109^th Congresses, and as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. Mr. McConnell worked as an intern on Capitol Hill for Senator John Sherman Cooper before serving as chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General to President Gerald Ford. Before his election to the Senate, he served as judge-executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky, from 1978 until he commenced his Senate term on January 3, 1985.

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice of the US is the head of the US federal court system, is the highest judicial officer in the country, and acts as a chief administrative officer for the federal courts. As head of the Judicial Conference of the US, the Chief Justice appoints the director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts. The Chief Justice also serves as a spokesperson for the judicial branch. The Chief Justice leads the business of the Supreme Court and presides over oral arguments. When the court renders an opinion, the Chief Justice, when in the majority, decides who writes the court’s opinion. The Chief Justice also has significant agenda-setting power over the court’s meetings. In modern tradition, the Chief Justice also has the ceremonial duty of administering the oath of office of the President of the US.

Mr. Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York, January 27, 1955. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1976 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979. He served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979 – 1980 and as a law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the US during the 1980 Term. He was Special Assistant to the Attorney General, US Department of Justice from 1981 – 1982, Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, White House Counsel’s Office from 1982 – 1986, and Principal Deputy Solicitor General, US Department of Justice from 1989 – 1993. From 1986 – 1989 and 1993 – 2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003. President George W. Bush nominated him as Chief Justice of the US, and he took his seat September 29, 2005.

State and local²⁹

In each state and territory, the chief executive is the governor, who serves as both head of state and head of government. As state managers, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors play two broad roles in relation to state legislatures. First, they may be empowered to call special legislative sessions, provided in most cases that the purpose and agenda for the sessions are set in advance. Second, governors coordinate and work with state legislatures in: approval of state budgets and appropriations; enactment of state legislation; confirmation of executive and judicial appointments; and legislative oversight of executive branch functions.

Our state governors as of March 1, 2021 were as follows:

Our other territory leaders as of March 1, 2021 were as follows: