There are currently ______ cabinet departments in the federal government.

• A. 12
• B. 18
• C. 15
• D. 20

Answer: (C)

Cabinet departments are the main divisions of the president’s executive branch, each led by a secretary (the Justice Department being headed by the Attorney General). There are fifteen such departments today, covering areas like State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. Homeland Security was created in 2002, which brought the total to fifteen. The other numbers don’t match the current structure: twelve would leave out several key departments, while eighteen or twenty would imply more departments than actually exist.