executive branch

American  

[ig-zek-yuh-tiv branch] / ɪgˈzɛk yə tɪv ˌbræntʃ /

noun

1. the branch of government charged with the execution and enforcement of laws and policies and the administration of public affairs; the executive.

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executive branch Cultural  

1. The branch of federal and state government that is broadly responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. At the state level, the executive includes governors and their staffs. At the federal level, the executive includes the president, the vice president, staffs of appointed advisers (including the cabinet), and a variety of departments and agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Postal Service (see postmaster general). The executive branch also proposes a great deal of legislation to Congress and appoints federal judges, including justices of the Supreme Court. Although the executive branch guides the nation's domestic and foreign policies, the system of checks and balances works to limit its power.

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Etymology

Origin of executive branch

First recorded in 1710–20

Example Sentences

The ambiguity has produced dueling legal opinions between the executive branch and the Fed going back to 1978.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The California Supreme Court, which leans liberal, can rein in the executive branch if it determines it has violated the state Constitution or other statutes.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Congress has delegated some tariff authority to the executive branch, but those laws impose “strict limits” on the scope and duration of tariffs that the president may dictate.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2026

Congress and the executive branch should adopt a stable, well-reasoned trade framework that targets real threats to fair competition, evaluates the impact of tariffs on small firms, and avoids high volatility in import duties.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 19, 2026

And his conduct in providing clandestine instructions to Adams’s cabinet undermined the constitutional authority of the executive branch in ways that would have landed him in jail in modern times.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• bureau
• department