Easy Overview of the White House Office

What is the White House Office?

The White House Office is a Federal entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, who also maintains the position as the head of the Executive Office. The staff of the several offices which make up the White House Office is based in various locations throughout the White House, including the West Wing and East Wing, as well as in separate federal buildings, such as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the New Executive Office Building.

White House Office Quick Facts:

The following details outline the administration of the White House Office:

The White House Office was founded in 1857

The headquarters of the White House Office are located in the White House

The White House Office employs roughly 150 government agents or workers

The parent agency of the White House Office is the Executive Offices of the President of the United States

History of the White House Office:

The White House Office was established in the Executive Office of the President by Reorganization Plan 1 of 1939 and through the Executive Order 8248 to provide formal assistance to the President of the United States in the performance of his several activities incident to his immediate office.

The White House Office is organized in accordance with the wishes of the President of the United States; the White House Office is directed by staff chosen by the elected President. The White House Office remains the centerpiece of the presidential staff system; in many ways, the White House Office is closes to the President, in both physical proximity and in its impact on the day-to-day operations, policy agendas, deliberations and public communications of his office.

What is the Mission of the White House Office?

The elected President of the United States is free to determine what sub offices and their coordinating functions will be represented in his staff structure. The majority of White House Offices have some set of established staff handling national security, domestic, and economic policy.

That being said, each White House Office can vary significantly; in general, the majority of White House Offices will deal with the cabinet, political affairs, congressional affairs, intergovernmental affairs and liaison with the public and numerous constituency groups. In addition, the White House Office will have operations devoted to the media, such as a press office, a communications office, a speechwriting staff and other forms of media liaison.

The issues that confront the Nation and more specifically the President, cannot be handled by one man alone, and therefore the President of the United States is forced to draw on the expertise of the staff he has placed around him.

Government Agency of the Executive Branch:

Government agencies are defined as organizations, councils, and offices operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government of the United States of America; each federal agency retains specific administrative jurisdiction over specific facets latent within the operations of the United States Government.

The White House Office functions as a government agency under the Executive Branch of the United States government, which is comprised of 3 total branches; in addition to the Executive branch – which is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of operational legislation existing within the United States of America – there also exists the Legislative and Judicial Branches.

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