• The executive branch is responsible for enforcing and implementing the nation's laws.white house image by Ritu Jethani from Fotolia.com
  
  The executive branch of the United States consists of the president, vice-president, the Cabinet, executive branch departments, agencies and the executive office. The Constitution broadly lays out the duties of the executive branch. While its primary job involves enforcing legislation, each component has varying duties for implementation.
  
  

Cabinet Duties

• The presidential Cabinet is a governing entity within the executive branch. Cabinet members advise the president on any matters relating to their respective offices, while Cabinet agencies create regulations that help implement laws. Departments and agencies function under the authority of the president. Departments represented on the Cabinet include the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Defense, Education, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Transportation, Labor, State, and Health and Human Resources. Agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency.
  
  

Executive Office Duties

• The executive office of the president includes the President's closest advisers, led by the White House chief of staff. The EOP facilitates communication between the president and the American constituency. The most visible member of this office is the press secretary, who informs the media through daily press briefings about the president's agenda. Other less visible members include those of the National Security Council, who advise the President on issues of national security, intelligence and foreign policy.
  
  

Vice-presidential Duties

• The vice-president assumes the presidency should the president become incapacitated; he is first in the line of succession. When the president is in full capacity, the vice-president often takes the role of top policy adviser. The vice president also serves as the president of the U.S. Senate, having the duty to break voting ties, should they occur. Although this title implies that he presides over the Senate, vice-presidents seldom do. Instead, Congress chooses one of its own members to preside over the sessions.
  
  

Presidential Duties

• The president's implements the nation's laws by first signing bills into law or rejecting them through a veto. Once the President signs a bill into law, he makes the necessary arrangements to enforce it. He issues executive orders that either explain the new law or direct Cabinet and agency members to create regulations for it. These regulations ensure that the new law is enforced successfully. In addition, the Constitution dictates that the President has the duty of informing Congress on the current state of the union and offering recommendations for improvement. In modern days, this duty has traditionally been performed through a speech in front of a joint session of Congress each January. The report does not have to be a speech--at one time written reports were common--but modern presidents have chosen to do so in the wake of media and technology.