Executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico

The executive branch is led by the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico which consists of the immediate staff to the Governor as well as multiple levels of support. All other executive offices are ascribed to the Office of the Governor. The Governor, however, delegates the management and overwatch of almost all the executive offices to the Secretariat of Governance and the Chief of Staff; being the Office of Management and Budget and the Planning Board the only executive offices that report directly to the Governor. The executive offices are comprised by:[5]

Article IV of the Constitution of Puerto Rico establishes that the Governor shall be assisted by Secretaries whom shall collectively constitute the Governor's advisory council and be designated as the Council of Secretaries. These Secretaries and other officers which hold positions at the same bureaucratic level compose the Cabinet. On rare occasions, the Cabinet is called upon to ratify a gubernatorial decision, such as the appointment of a member of the board of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank, in lieu of the Senate's advice and consent.

All Cabinet members are nominated by the Governor and then presented to the Senate for advice and consent by a simple majority—except for the Secretary of State who requires the advice and consent of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. If the Cabinet members are confirmed they are sworn in and begin their duties immediately afterwards. However, Cabinet members appointed during a legislative recess may begin serving immediately under a recess appointment until the end of the following regular session of the Legislative Assembly, or rejected by the Senate, whichever occurs first, should they not be confirmed. All members leading executive departments receive the title of Secretary.

The Council of Secretaries is the group composed by the heads of the executive departments of the government of Puerto Rico. The council is charged with leading the different sectors of public administration within the government and is comprised by:

There are currently fifteen executive departments; all of them equivalent to that of ministries in parliamentary systems. Each executive department is responsible of a specific sector of public administration and provides a related public service to the citizens of Puerto Rico. All departments are capable of generating revenue through the issuance of fines, or through the collection of license fees and taxes. These revenues are then allocated to the government's primary operating fund: the Puerto Rico General Fund. The current departments are:

The Cabinet-level officers of the executive branch of the government of Puerto Rico are the heads of the executive agencies that report directly to the Governor of Puerto Rico or to the Chief of Staff who also happen to not be Secretaries of an executive department nor members of an executive office—except for the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Planning Board who are considered Cabinet-level officers. All the Cabinet-level officers are at the same bureaucratic level as of the Secretaries[9] and together with the Council of Secretaries compose the Cabinet of Puerto Rico.

The fiscal agent and financing agencies are a group of government-owned corporations of Puerto Rico that manage all aspects of financing for the executive branch. The Puerto Rico Government Development Bank Act establishes that the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank (GDB) serves as the fiscal agent of the government of Puerto Rico.[10] Regardless of its special status, the GDB and all other financing agencies report to the Secretariat of Governance and the Chief of Staff. These agencies are comprised by:

• Authority for the Financing of Housing
• Authority for the Financing of Industrial, Touristic, Educative, Medical, and Environmental Control Facilities (AFICA)
• Authority for the Financing of the Infrastructure of Puerto Rico
• Economic Development Bank
• Government Development Bank[lower-alpha 2]
• Municipal Financing Agency
• Public Financing Corporation
• Public-Private Partnerships Authority
• Urgent Interest Fund Corporation (COFINA)

The government-owned corporations of Puerto Rico are autonomous, independent, and self-sufficient legal entities owned entirely or in large by the executive branch. These corporations engage in commercial activities with their revenues ultimately being allocated towards the government's treasury: the Puerto Rico Consolidated Fund. As of December 2012, the executive branch owned 50 government-owned corporations as follows:[5][11][12]

There are other agencies that belong to the executive branch that aren't either executive offices, executive departments, subagencies, nor government-owned corporations. These agencies tend to be regulatory bodies or agencies that provide some sort of public service whose goal is not commercial profit. Regardless of their purpose, these agencies report to the Secretariat of Governance and the Chief of Staff, and some of them are even presided by a cabinet-level officer. This group of agencies is comprised by: