Government Organization

Just where does one look for a federal job? It helps to understand how the U.S. government is organized. If you took high school government class, you might recall that the government is divided into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.

All the cabinet and most of the independent agencies fall under the Executive branch. Under the Legislative branch, you will find the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and all of their supporting staff, the Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, and others. Within the Judicial umbrella are the Supreme Court and all the Federal courts across the country.

Legislative Branch

• U.S. Senate: The Placement Office is a nonpartisan office that maintains a file of resumes submitted by candidates. When the office of a Senator is looking to fill positions, they may pull applicants from this pool of resumes. People interested in applying only for positions with one party or another can also navigate through the site of their party in the Senate and submit their resume there.
• U.S. House of Representatives: As with the Senate, there are positions working directly for the House, and positions working for the office of the representative. To find a job with the House, check USAjobs for current listings.

Independent Agencies: Independent agencies were established by Congress to address issues that became too complex for a simple legislative action. Most independent agencies fall under the Executive Branch, but a few, like the Library of Congress, are directly under Congress. In general, the independent agencies have a very specific responsibility and authority set down by Congress. Typically, they regulate some sector of the economy and set forth rules about how things will be done within that sector (like the Federal Communications Commission). Or, like the CIA, they may be responsible for gathering information and presenting it to government decision-makers.

• Library of Congress
• Government Printing Office (GPO)
• Architect of the Capitol
• Government Accountability Office
• Congressional Budget Office

Judicial Branch

• Supreme Court
• U.S. Federal Courts
• United States Sentencing Commission

Executive Branch

Independent Agencies

• The White House
• Office of Management and Budget
• Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
• Cabinet Agencies

Find the latest government job postings on JobMonkey or at USAJobs.gov.