Positions in the US government

Baron de Montesquieu argued that the best protection against tyranny was separation of powers.  In our American government today their are many people in charge with different roles that insures that there is a balance of power.  This extends beyond just the executive, legislative and judicial branch as there are different roles held by different people in all the branches.  Many people do not know about all the different cabinet positions nor do they know who the most important people in the legislative branch are.  It is very important for Americans to know how their government operates so that they can hold them accountable.

The most important people in congress are the majority and minority leaders, the majority and minority whips, and the speaker of the house.

The majority leader is the head of their party.  The role of the majority leader is to lead debates and develop the calendar.  They also have special duties helping the speaker of the house.  The current majority leader is Kevin McCarthy.

The minority leader is like the majority leader because they are the main voice for their party.  They lead debates and stand up for their party and try to negotiate with the majority party.  The current minority leader is Nancy Pelosi.

The majority and minority whips are both responsible for "whipping" up votes.  The have administrative roles like taking attendance and counting votes but they also try to convince people to switch sides or vote a certain way and they help their party's leader on the floor.  The current majority whip is Steve Scalise and the current minority whip is Steny Hoyer.

The speaker of the house is the most powerful person in congress.  They lead all the discussions and are tasked with signing legislation and preserving order.  They are the main voice and representative of congress.  They have the power to appoint some other members.  The current speaker of the house is Paul Ryan.

The most important positions in the executive branch or the cabinet are the president, the vice president, and the 15 department leaders, the most important being the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense and the attorney general.

The vice president is more of an honorary role and does not have that much power.  They take over as president if the president dies and is the tiebreaker and can cast the deciding vote in senate if the senators vote evenly on a piece of legislation.  Other than that the vice-president can offer advice to the president but is mostly used by presidential candidates to appeal to a group of voters that they cannot reach.

The Secretary of State is the president's foreign policy adviser.  The Secretary of the treasury is the president's economic adviser.  The Secretary of Defense is the president's adviser on military build up and international security.  The attorney general is the president's adviser on legal matters.

Sources:

https://www.house.gov/leadership
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/cabinet
http://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/legislative-leaders/roles-and-responsibilities-of-selected-leadership-positions.aspx