The devices and arrangements, which have proliferated and gained prominence recently, range from the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) to the National Security Council (NSC), the "drug czar," and a multiplicity of joint operational task forces. These entities, numbering in the hundreds, can be categorized among seven different types, which vary in significant ways. Councils consisting of the President, who is the chairman, the Vice President, and specified department and/or agency heads, with only three in existence: the National Security Council, created by public law in 1947, and the Homeland Security Council and the USA Freedom Corps Council, each created by executive order, in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Specially created positions or offices , with their own authority and resources, to cover a policy area that crosses a number of separate and independent agencies (e.g., Council on Environmental Quality and the directors of the offices of National Drug Control Policy, of Homeland Security, and of USA Freedom Corps). Agency heads or other officers with qualified authority over other entities , particularly the Director of Central Intelligence, the Director of the Secret Service, and inspectors general, who can enlist the assistance of or task other organizations in carrying out specific duties and assignments. Sub-cabinet boards, committees, and councils , such as the NSC and HSC deputies committees, two inspector general coordinating councils, and the chief financial officers coordinating council. Examples of Coordinative Mechanisms

Examples of federal interagency coordinative mechanisms, interspersed among the seven categories, are manifold. They are the heads of the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services; Director of Central Intelligence; Director of FEMA; Administrator of General Services; and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; along with other officials from the Executive Office of the President, including his chief of staff, the Vice President's chief of staff, Director of OMB, Director of Office of Science and Technology, Director of the National Economic Council, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. Transfers of Personnel and Resources

Another type of coordinative arrangement is manifested in the temporary transfer of personnel from one department or agency to an existing or new organization; such changes usually occur through setting up task forces and working groups and through detailing and redeploying staff to other agencies. These efforts are instituted under a wide range of authority: public laws, executive orders, administrative directives, interagency memoranda of understanding, or agency-head delegations. These differ in terms of their location and membership, powers and responsibilities, enabling authority and permanency, and establishment and evolution.
Interagency coordinative mechanisms at the federal level have become more prominent and prevalent recently. The Office of Homeland Security (OHS) and the companion Homeland Security Council (HSC), along with proposals for change, are the most visible. Other examples not only include such well-known entities as the National Security Council (NSC) and the so-called "drug czar" but also extend to a multiplicity of nearly anonymous working groups and task forces. Some of them have short life spans, while others have remained in place for long periods.
Seven different types of interagency coordinators are described here. They cross a broad spectrum of categories and cover a large number and wide variety of specific mechanisms and arrangements, established by public law, executive orders, administrative directives, and other legal instruments:
councils chaired by the President and consisting of the Vice President and the heads of certain departments and agencies, with the NSC, HSC, and the USA Freedom Corps Council being the only three; committees whose members are department and agency heads, including ones connected to the NSC and to the HSC; specially created offices and positions, especially the offices of Homeland Security, National Drug Control Policy, and USA Freedom Corps, along with their directors; specified agency heads and other officers—notably, the Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA), Director of the Secret Service, and inspectors general—with qualified authority to enlist the assistance of organizations outside their own establishments; sub-cabinet boards, committees, and councils, such as those associated with inspectors general and with chief financial officers; transfers of personnel and resources among new or existing entities, by way of operational task forces, working groups, staff details, and redeployments; and transfers of authority between and among agencies, through cross-designation and special deputation of personnel.
The diverse arrangements and devices, collectively numbering in the hundreds, extend across a broad range of policy areas; exist in a wide variety of institutional locations; consist of different echelons of members and categories of leaders; carry out different types of responsibilities; perform different operations and activities; and vary in terms of their capabilities, resources, and powers.