fandomhigh | US Government (Wednesday, February 22, 4th period)

"Today we talk about the President's Cabinet," Josh said when the government class walked in. "Which are, well, people and not furniture."

He walked over to the board. "Okay. George Washington was the first president, and he was also the first president to appoint Cabinet officials. Among the first things he did was to persuade Congress to recognize the Office of Foreign Affairs--later renamed State--, Treasury, and War--later renamed Defense. Although he also had an Attorney General, that position wasn't put in charge of the Justice Department until 1870." Josh looked up. "But no one really cares about that."

He started writing. "There are currently 15 members of the President's Cabinet who are hugely important in the Presidential line of succession, should the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate all die or resign. Because of this, it's common practice to have a member of the Cabinet not attend big speeches like the State of the Union. That person is known as the designated survivor and they, along with a couple members of Congress, are held in a secure, undisclosed location to ensure the continuation of government should anything terrible happen over at the Capitol."

He lifted an eyebrow. "It is considered the height of nerdiness to be able to tell which Cabinet secretary has been chosen as the designated survivor based on who's walking into the House Chamber. I've been able to tell the last nine years running."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway. The fifteen Cabinet positions, in order of creation of their office are," he looked at the ceiling and recited, "State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security." Josh looked down at his notes. "Which is, conveniently enough, the line of succession except for Homeland Security, which hasn't been approved by Congress yet. If the current bill goes through, Homeland Security would jump the line and would come after the Attorney General and before the Secretary of the Interior. The Constitutional regulations for who can become President would still hold true--if there is a foreign-born secretary of whatever, they're ineligible to become President and we'd skip on down the line."

He smiled. "You don't need to know this, but there are also Cabinet-level administration offices, which are offices who are allowed to attend Cabinet meetings but aren't technically Secretaries of anything. Those folks include the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff--" he grinned. "Yeah, that was me, the EPA, the Office of Management and Budget, the Drug Czar, the CIA director, the Ambassador to the UN, the Undersecretary for Emergency Response, The White House Counsel, the National Security Advisor, and the Director of National Intelligence, though no one really knows what he does yet."

Josh smiled and sat back down. "Our discussion for the day: Which Cabinet secretary or Cabinet-level administration office guy would you prefer to be?"

[OOC: Slowplay like woah today.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

...

Isabel signed in.

Sam signed in.

Sam listened to the lecture and definitely wasn't doodling a design for a fairy dust-powered car in the margins of her notebook. Nope.

Isabel listened to the lecture and took notes. If she occasionally blushed for no reason, it had nothing to do with how she'd spent time this morning. Really....

Marty signs in.

Marty took some notes, but his mind began to drift when Josh started talking about Defense, Homeland Security and the CIA.

"National Security Advisor," Marty said quickly. "Because they get to do all sorts of illegal things that violate the rights of citizens and circumvent the bill of rights."

Angela signed in.

Angela listened, and doodled the words "designated survivor" several times.

She thinks it would be an excellent band name.

Angela shoots Marty a look before answeering. "If I had the background for it? Health and Human Services. You oversee a lot of the government stuff that effects the most people, like Medicare, Medicaid, the FDA..."

"Department of Defense," Sam replied, even though she'd rather have had all her teeth pulled than become a Cabinet Secretary, "because they're the ones who tell the President how to make decisions that will have the biggest strategic impact with the smallest casualty rate."

Marty gives Angela a blank look as if to say "What did I do?"

Angela rolls her eyes, then scribbles a note.

The note reads, So why is violating human rights your goal today?

Marty scribbles a note back.

It's not *my* goal. It's the goal of the NSA. I'm just trying to show how the government is slowing chipping away the rights guaranteed to us in the constitution.

What? Too much?

I get that, BUT you SAID it was what you wanted to do. Which is why you got that look.

Sorry.

Marty's face lit up with realization of what he had said.

Oh! I get it. Sorry. Words came out before I realized what I was saying. My mistake.

Are you doing anything later tonight?

Alphonse signed in.

Alphonse listened, but he was also staring blankly and attempting to understand all the information. Keyword being 'attempting'. He facedesked and wished politics weren't so darned confusing.

I think your mind was somewhere else. Hopefully Lyman won't notice.

And not as far as I know. You got an idea?

Lee signs in.

John signed in.

"Secretary of Transportation," John says. "I complain about traffic and stuff enough, I'd like to see why it happens, what means of transportation could be utilized more and how we could make land, air, and sea transportation safer."

"Whoever heads up education," Lee says firmly. "They've got a tough job."

Peter signed in.

Peter took notes, but was dealing with a vague sense that he would prefer to still be in the library.

"I think I'd have to say Housing and Urban Development. I've been around underprivileged neighborhoods enough to know how bad some urban areas are. It would be nice to attempt to make a difference there. ~~While not swinging around in red-and-blue underwear, that is.~~"

Kawalsky signed in.

Kawalsky blinked. Homeland security? WTF?

But he took notes like a good student. For once.

"Undersecretary of Emergency Response sounds like a job that gets things done. If not, Defense."

"Department of Energy. I ties into what I said last week about solar power."

Lindsey signs in.

"White House Counsel, maybe. Since if all goes according to plan in my life I'll be lawyering it up anyway."

Elizabeth signed in.

Elizabeth mostly doodles throughout the class.

She's not writing what she thinks of the various secretaries in her reality. Really.

"State department," Elizabeth replied, shrugging. "But you already knew that."

"I'd also take the vice-presidency, Chief of Staff or Ambassador to the UN."

US Government (Wednesday, February 22, 4th period)

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