The United States federal government has three branches.

The federal government of the United States is the centralized body established by the . The federal government has three branches: the , , and . Through a system of or "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.[citation needed] In addition, the powers of the federal government as a whole are limited by the Constitution, which leaves a great deal of authority to the individual states.