Identify the branches of government

  • 3 minutes

In order to understand the US Government’s cloud strategy, it’s important to understand how the US Government is organized. That organization, and its relationships, are key to understanding how the strategy has evolved over the years.

Structure

You’re probably aware that the US Government is divided into three separate and distinct branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

The legislative branch

The U.S. Capitol Building

Legislative branch purpose

The legislative branch:

  • drafts proposed laws
  • confirms or rejects presidential nominations for positions within federal agencies, and
  • controls spending authority of the U.S. government.

Legislative branch composition

At the Federal level, the legislative branch is composed of two organizations: The Senate and The House of Representatives. This two organization structure is known as a bicameral legislature.

The United States Senate includes 100 senators, 2 from each state.

The United States House of Representatives includes 435 representatives, allocated based upon the population of the individual states. Every 10 years, as a result of the United States Census, the number of seats allocated per state are validated or reappropriated to other states.

At the State level, legislative bodies function in much of the same form. All states, except for Nebraska, have a bicameral legislature.

At the county, municipality, township, or below levels, the legislative bodies is a single body with an odd number of members. An odd number of members is used to prevent ties from occurring when voting matters occur.

Legislative branch effect on cloud strategy

When it comes to cloud computing, legislative branch members have a lot of power.

At the Federal level, the legislative branch may:

  • determine the U.S. Government’s strategy
  • approve or reject individuals into agencies who will implement that strategy
  • provide or reject money to implement that strategy

At the State level, they may:

  • make state-level policies on how cloud computing technologies are adopted
  • determine which providers meet their state-level requirements
  • allocate funding toward state-level digital transformation to modernize state-level agencies

Local levels include county, municipality, township, or below. At the local level, legislative bodies use cloud computing for providing more direct citizen services. Some examples include:

  • paying property taxes
  • communicating refuse pickup schedules
  • allowing citizens to submit requests for permits.

Many local governments also use data and AI capabilities to determine how to best impact local law enforcement policies.

The judicial branch

The U.S. Supreme Court Building

Judicial branch purpose

The judicial branch reviews laws that the legislative branch has created (and that the Executive branch has approved) to determine how they will be interpreted. They also look at whether they're relevant to a set of facts, and whether the law is constitutional.

Judicial branch composition

At the Federal level, the judicial branch, includes several sublevels within itself.

At the top is the United States Supreme Court. Nine justices comprise the Supreme Court. The president nominates the justices and the U.S. senate confirms them. The U.S. Supreme Court hears cases that involve the U.S. Constitution or U.S. law. The Supreme Court also hears cases that involve the U.S. as a party, the U.S. and multiple parties, and cases that plaintiffs or defendants appeal from federal or state courts.

Next is the U.S. Courts of Appeals. There are 12 regional circuits across the United States, which are also known as the "Federal Circuit." These circuits compose the U.S. Court of Appeals. Circuit Courts typically have three member judges who determine whether district courts applied the law correctly. These Federal Courts also determine whether federal administrative agencies applied the law correctly, because some proceedings occur directly at the court of appeals level.

Below the U.S. Courts of Appeals (the Federal Circuit), are the district courts, also known as trial courts. There are 94 district/trial courts across the United States who handle civil cases, criminal cases, supervising the pre-trial process, conducting trials, and common trial functions. Each state has at least one district court, and four territories of the United Sates have U.S. district courts that hear Federal cases. Judges may handle civil cases, criminal cases, bankruptcy cases, or serve as a magistrate judge, who issue warrants for arrest.

Judicial branch effect on cloud strategy

When it comes to cloud computing, the judicial branch has both macro-level and micro-level power: it may determine the law to implement a strategy goes against the constitution, and may reject it. However, it may also determine that certain elements of the law are constitutional, and rule those laws to be implemented while others may not.

It’s important to note that the Judicial Branch has authority over laws, but not memoranda or executive orders.

The executive branch

The White House

Executive branch purpose

Finally, the executive branch does just that: it executes laws and ensures they're enforced.

Executive branch composition

The Executive branch includes the President, Vice President, the Cabinet, thousands of executive departments, independent agencies, boards, commissions, and committees.

Executive branch effect on cloud strategy

You may think that only the legislative branch or the judicial branch may determine cloud strategy. That’s definitely not the case. The executive branch may issue Executive Orders and Memorandums that set forth strategy. Whether those executive orders and memorandums have the money to be implemented, however, is up to the legislative branch. Whether an executive order or memorandum is constitutional may also be determined by the judicial branch.

Summary

Ultimately, all three branches play important roles in determining the Government’s strategy and implementation of that strategy.