The office is also referred to as a "permanent government", since many policy programs, and the people who are charged with implementing them, continue between presidential administrations.

[5] The civil servants who work in the Executive Office of the President are regarded as nonpartisan and politically neutral, so they are capable of providing objective and impartial advice.

Based on these recommendations, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 lobbied Congress to approve the Reorganization Act of 1939.

However, it laid the groundwork for the large and organizationally complex White House staff that emerged during the presidencies of Roosevelt's successors.

[17] From 1933 to 1939, as he greatly expanded the scope of the federal government's policies and powers in response to the Great Depression, Roosevelt relied on his "brain trust" of top advisers, who were often appointed to vacant positions in agencies and departments, from which they drew their salaries since the White House lacked statutory or budgetary authority to create new staff positions.

Eisenhower, a former U.S. Army general, had been Supreme Allied Commander during the war and reorganized the Executive Office to suit his leadership style.

[21] The core White House staff appointments, and most Executive Office officials generally, are not required to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, although there are a handful of exceptions (e.g., the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the United States Trade Representative).

Congress also has the right to investigate the operation of the Executive Office, normally holding hearings bringing forward individual personnel to testify before a congressional committee.