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U.S. Cabinet Departments

Try to name the 15 departments represented in the United States cabinet.
Listed in order of rank
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 27, 2018
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First submittedJune 6, 2010
Times taken54,689
Average score53.3%
Rating4.83
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Department
State
Treasury
Defense
Justice
Interior
Department
Agriculture
Commerce
Labor
Health and Human Services
Housing and Urban Development
Department
Transportation
Energy
Education
Veterans Affairs
Homeland Security
+2
Level 28
Dec 30, 2011
100% - of course, lmao
+15
Level 88
Jul 22, 2018
ROFLMAOWTIMB
+2
Level 56
Oct 16, 2023
WTIMB?
+10
Level 28
Mar 8, 2013
Defence with a C please for all us non-americans
+5
Level ∞
May 16, 2015
Defence will work now.
+10
Level 67
Oct 20, 2015
Prior to the Truman Administration it was the War Department. We can agree on that spelling I'm sure.
+14
Level 88
Jul 22, 2018
The U.S. realized it was fighting invasive wars now, nowhere near its borders in countries that would never think of launching a transoceanic war against the U.S. So in the typical American political scenario of say it and it will be repeated blindly, they called it Defense. As has been noted, the term Homeland Security is synonymous with the word defense, indicating the military is always thousands of miles away in someone else's country.
+5
Level 65
Mar 25, 2020
Geordies probably can’t.
+1
Level 48
Dec 9, 2023
defense is the name, attack is the game
+1
Level 72
Mar 13, 2024
Looked more into this out of curiosity. It appears the Department of War only involved the army and the air force, with the navy having its own department. Things changed a couple times from 1947-1949, but eventually settled on the current Department of Defense, now including the navy. I would guess the name was changed for clarity as it was a different sort of thing now.
+3
Level 61
Mar 8, 2013
Although I am English I was trying to think of the British political departments then use US terms to fill in the gaps. Obviously not a good stratagy for me as I managed an average score for this one, which shows my ignorance of politics all over the world!
+11
Level 77
Mar 8, 2013
Can transport please be accepted as well as transportation?
+4
Level 61
Feb 21, 2017
Or accept USDOT, it's a commonly used acronym (you can see it on the sides of delivery trucks)
+1
Level 25
Dec 7, 2023
only one of those letters tells what the position is, like it accepts hhs and hud cuz those are the words of the actual position, "usdo" isn't what the quiz is asking
+6
Level 33
Mar 8, 2013
Darn, you guys have WEIRD names for stuff. I mean, who covers immigration?
+11
Level 45
Mar 8, 2013
Immigration would be part of Homeland Security. I don't think the names are that odd. They mostly do what they say they do, with the exception of Defense (which does aggressive war) and Homeland Security (which does defense).
+14
Level 82
Mar 9, 2013
Homeland Security does not cover national defense. If, for instance, the United States was invaded by China... then we're much more likely to rely on the Army, Air Force and Navy (Defense) than we are on the TSA, CIA, or ATF (Homeland Security). Homeland Security deals with counter-terrorism.
+1
Level 50
Dec 6, 2023
CIA isn’t homeland security
+9
Level 82
Oct 20, 2015
Also, the best defense is a good offense, right?
+10
Level 60
Sep 7, 2016
Kalba, you're exactly right, except that the CIA is an independent agency that reports to the Director of National Intelligence, who reports directly to the President. It's never been part of the Cabinet. And the ATF is under the Department of Justice.
+2
Level 74
May 10, 2017
Well then it's a good thing DHS is so offensive.
+6
Level 82
Dec 16, 2018
Kenobi: thanks for the correction
+2
Level 88
Mar 25, 2020
I agree with you on this one, Kalbahamut. Funny you argued basically the opposite position on the Aircraft Carriers quiz, though. Sometimes I think you just like to argue...;)
+2
Level 82
Mar 25, 2020
huh? What point do you think I am arguing?
+3
Level 67
Mar 8, 2013
It used to be housed within Justice.
+4
Level 82
Mar 9, 2013
INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) was originally established under the Treasury Department, and was then migrated to the departments of Commerce, and then Labor, and finally Justice before ceasing to exist in 2003. In 2003 it was split in three: US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Customs and Border Protection, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), all of which are now under the Department of Homeland Security.
+2
Level 28
Mar 8, 2013
I wish you would require all the words in Housing and Urban Development.
+7
Level 88
Jul 22, 2018
You mean the one everyone calls HUD?
+5
Level 75
Mar 9, 2013
Way too many cooks in the kitchen! We don't need half of those departments! Then maybe I would have got 100%.
+16
Level 82
May 10, 2017
It's the Trump administration's plan to basically dismantle, defund, gut, understaff and destroy all of these possibly excepting State and Defense. If they succeed in their agenda many will be effectively impotent by 2018 after the next mid-term. Then the USA can be a government-free utopia similar to Somalia: Republican paradise.
+15
Level 82
Dec 16, 2018
Also, by your comment I take it that you have no idea what vitally important things most of these departments do, making you an ideal candidate to head one of them up. Send your resume to the White House.
+2
Level 65
Aug 16, 2013
I liked the quiz so much, that I made one with the Cabinet Members.

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/36540/cabinet-members-as-of-august-16-2013

+3
Level 39
Sep 18, 2013
Isn't the Vice President also a member of the Cabinet?
+4
Level 88
Jan 25, 2015
No. But he is technically in the Senate (but only votes in event of a tie.)
+6
Level 44
Feb 8, 2017
The Vice President is technically part of the Cabinet, but he doesn't get his own department, which is why he's not on this quiz.
+2
Level 75
Aug 11, 2022
ho or she* :)
+6
Level 86
Oct 20, 2015
Wouldn't it be great seeing Rick Perry take this quiz?
+3
Level 20
Oct 23, 2015
NO! I think I would rather have a root canal! That village in Texas has sent us enough idiots.
+8
Level 61
Feb 21, 2017
Let's see, there's the department of, uh...
+3
Level 82
Aug 13, 2019
oops.
+3
Level 67
Mar 25, 2020
I guess your mind went blank :)
+4
Level 75
Mar 25, 2020
You can usually figure who's at the lower end of the pecking order by who's named Designated Survivor during the State of the Union address. Rick Perry was named the Designator Survivor for the 2019 SOTU. I wasn't sure if that had been made public ahead of time whether it would have made us less or more prone to an attack during the address.
+2
Level 73
Mar 27, 2020
um oops
+1
Level 72
Dec 13, 2023
This would be brilliant, especially if he was sat at his seat in the Cabinet, with all the other members sat around him, cheering him on, then watching as he abandons the quiz and begins typing in the comments, furious because he typed in the words ‘terrorist,’ ‘terrorists,’ ‘terrorism’ ‘war on terror,’ ‘Department of Killing Terrorists,’ ‘Department of Bombing Shepherds,’ and only got 1/15 by accident because he started to type ‘Transportation of Terrorists to Guantanamo Bay.’ Someone did try and cheat and shout ‘State!’ at him with 30 secs left but he just typed the word ‘Texas’ and head butted the keyboard until the time ran down.
+3
Level 74
Oct 20, 2015
Can you please accept HHS (since you accept HUD)?
+3
Level ∞
Jan 18, 2017
Okay
+2
Level 22
Oct 21, 2015
100% and I'm Australian
+2
Level 61
Jun 6, 2016
For HHS it might make more sense since it's name was changed when Education was raised up to require more than just the first word for your answer. And since so few know the full name of HUD, there too you might want to have more spelled out. That said, the cabinet secretaries aren't the only members of the Presidential cabinet.
+3
Level 69
May 10, 2017
Is there really no department of the environment in the USA? Which of these covers it?
+4
Level 82
May 10, 2017
"The EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] is not a Cabinet department, but the Administrator is normally given cabinet rank."

See also the end of this list for other related agencies

+6
Level 82
Aug 13, 2019
Interior, Agriculture, HHS, and HUD all can deal with issues related to the environment, too.
+3
Level 71
Aug 10, 2022
Adding to the above info from Djilas and kalbahamut: The EPA itself is part of the Dept. of the Interior. There is also an Environment and Natural Resources Division in the Dept. of Justice.
+3
Level 49
May 10, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency is not a cabinet position but very powerful nonetheless-- it's rules have the force of law.
+4
Level 71
Aug 10, 2022
Until the climate scientists on the Supreme Court overrule them.
+2
Level 75
Mar 25, 2020
I was missing one and the only thing I could think of that was missing was business, but I just couldn't quite get the word before time ran out.
+1
Level 81
Mar 25, 2020
You forgot Space Force. Please update!
+6
Level 88
Mar 25, 2020
It is within the Department of the Air Force, much like the Marines are within the Department of the Navy. And both are within the Department of Defense.
+9
Level 82
Mar 26, 2020
But there's no air in space
+1
Level 49
Dec 6, 2023
there's no defined boundary between air and space, so...
+2
Level 58
Dec 6, 2023
But there's an Air in Space museum...
+1
Level 75
Aug 10, 2022
Tried industry, business, trade... Just a couple of thesaurus entries away from commerce.
+2
Level 75
Aug 10, 2022
could you accept things like trade for commerce or transport for transportation?
+1
Level 68
Feb 28, 2023
Some alternatives that I would suggest should be accepted:

- Labor - "employment", "work"

- Commerce - "trade", "business"

- Agriculture - "farming"

+4
Level 93
Jul 11, 2023
Uhm, no? While those are synonyms, those aren't what the Cabinet Departments are called. Accepting synonyms for official government departments is not a good idea.
+2
Level 68
Jul 14, 2023
Why not? For me, the interesting aspect of the quiz is (as a non-American) understanding which issues the USA deems worthy of a whole department, and which they don't. For example, I'm not interested in the fact that they have a department with the specific title of "Department of Commerce" - just the fact that they have a department that's functionally identical to what other countries would usually call a Department of Business and/or Trade.
+4
Level 93
Sep 6, 2023
Respectfully, this quiz is about *American* Cabinet Departments. The departments of other nations have zero relevance here, whether they're interesting to you or not. Each department has an official name, which should be the only acceptable title allowed. There isn't a "Department of Farming," the same way there isn't a "Department of Money." While the name sounds similar, in the case of an official government agency/department, you should be required to use only the official titles.
+2
Level 49
Dec 6, 2023
Of all of the leniency requests I've seen on this site, this is probably the most ridiculous. Just because a synonym exists, doesn't mean the department has multiple names. Get good bruv.
+1
Level 68
Jan 1, 2024
Seems to have been a weird influx of 12-year olds making fatuous remarks in this comment section on 6 December and 9 December. Were you assigned this quiz for homework?
+4
Level 50
Dec 6, 2023
Bro is trying to rebrand the us government
+1
Level 60
Dec 6, 2023
accept farming for agriculture?
+2
Level 49
Dec 6, 2023
that's not what it's called so no
+1
Level 48
Dec 9, 2023
State, Defense, Homeland security, Interior, Veteran Affaires, Justice (FBI and ATF)... hm the priorities are somewhat clear and chilling. No wonder US got the highest incarnation rate, if half of their 15 cabinet members deal with security issues. In most normal countries those are covered by 3, max. 4 ministries of out 20.
+1
Level 82
Mar 11, 2024
What do you think the Departments of State, Interior, and VA actually do? Feel free to be chilled if you like, but I'm hard-pressed to think of which "normal" countries don't have some form of, for example, State Department to manage relations with other countries.