Owing to the system of checks and balances, the three branches are exactly equal in power and authority under the US Constitution, albeit each having different purviews. The Department of Justice is just a federal agency belonging to the Executive Branch. As such, its director, the Attorney General, works under and reports to the President.
So, as far as power and authority goes, the Supreme Court is definitely higher because there is no higher authority in the land than that of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's authority is equal to that of the President and of Congress, not greater than, not less than, equal to. However, that authority can't really be compared to the Department of Justice. Since the Department of Justice is an agency of the Executive Branch, what you're asking about isn't really of a higher or lower nature.
Imagine if you have three business partners, Alex, Connie, and Judy, and one of those business partners, Alex, has an employee, Justin, who is employed by the company but doesn't work for the other two. You can't really say that Judy is higher than Justin because Justin doesn't work for Judy, but in the scheme of things, Judy is the one that's an actual business partner, not Justin, but if Alex throws his authority behind Justin's advice, then Justin effectively has all the power of Alex backing him, but the fact that Justin works for Alex doesn't mean that Judy and Connie won't try and influence him and won't require that he be held to the policies and standards and bylaws laid out in the partnership agreement.
Here's where it gets tricky: Say that Alex is in charge of money, and being in charge of money, he's in charge of the auditing department, which is what Justin does. Now say that Justin comes across some reports that give him reason to believe that Alex may be stealing money. Even if he's unconvinced that Alex actually is, as part of his job as an employee of the company, he's required to investigate that, report it, and do what he can to stop it if it is happening. In fact, that's even his legal obligation as it is what in the law is called his "fiduciary duty." That means he's investigating his boss. So while he still reports to his boss and while his boss could fire him, he must press forward, and in that scenario, Connie and Judy are going to do whatever they can to protect him if they are not party to stealing money from the company. Alex finds out about it, but firing him wouldn't be smart because if he's got nothing to hide and so has no reason to believe that Justin's investigation won't clear him, he wouldn't fire him. Firing Justin, Alex would look guilty. That means that Alex is technically in charge of an investigation into himself but must remain hands-off and not interfere in order not to implicate himself.
It is not a vertical system of management. The Supreme Court is in the judicial branch of government, the DOJ is in the executive branch (under Trump). Trump can't tell the Supreme Court what to do.
We consider the 3 branches of government to be equal.
You aren't comparing apples to apples. The Justice Department is charged with enforcement of Federal law. They are in charge of the FBI and the DEA. While it is the highest court in the land the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of Federal law including the United States Constitution. They are two completely different functioning bodies.
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There are three branches of government:
1. Executive - headed by the President
2. Legislative - headed by Congress
3. Judicial - headed by the Supreme Court
Owing to the system of checks and balances, the three branches are exactly equal in power and authority under the US Constitution, albeit each having different purviews. The Department of Justice is just a federal agency belonging to the Executive Branch. As such, its director, the Attorney General, works under and reports to the President.
So, as far as power and authority goes, the Supreme Court is definitely higher because there is no higher authority in the land than that of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's authority is equal to that of the President and of Congress, not greater than, not less than, equal to. However, that authority can't really be compared to the Department of Justice. Since the Department of Justice is an agency of the Executive Branch, what you're asking about isn't really of a higher or lower nature.
Imagine if you have three business partners, Alex, Connie, and Judy, and one of those business partners, Alex, has an employee, Justin, who is employed by the company but doesn't work for the other two. You can't really say that Judy is higher than Justin because Justin doesn't work for Judy, but in the scheme of things, Judy is the one that's an actual business partner, not Justin, but if Alex throws his authority behind Justin's advice, then Justin effectively has all the power of Alex backing him, but the fact that Justin works for Alex doesn't mean that Judy and Connie won't try and influence him and won't require that he be held to the policies and standards and bylaws laid out in the partnership agreement.
Here's where it gets tricky: Say that Alex is in charge of money, and being in charge of money, he's in charge of the auditing department, which is what Justin does. Now say that Justin comes across some reports that give him reason to believe that Alex may be stealing money. Even if he's unconvinced that Alex actually is, as part of his job as an employee of the company, he's required to investigate that, report it, and do what he can to stop it if it is happening. In fact, that's even his legal obligation as it is what in the law is called his "fiduciary duty." That means he's investigating his boss. So while he still reports to his boss and while his boss could fire him, he must press forward, and in that scenario, Connie and Judy are going to do whatever they can to protect him if they are not party to stealing money from the company. Alex finds out about it, but firing him wouldn't be smart because if he's got nothing to hide and so has no reason to believe that Justin's investigation won't clear him, he wouldn't fire him. Firing Justin, Alex would look guilty. That means that Alex is technically in charge of an investigation into himself but must remain hands-off and not interfere in order not to implicate himself.
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Supreme Court since it's the top of the judicial branch.
The DOJ is one agency of the executive branch.
It is not a vertical system of management. The Supreme Court is in the judicial branch of government, the DOJ is in the executive branch (under Trump). Trump can't tell the Supreme Court what to do.
We consider the 3 branches of government to be equal.
You aren't comparing apples to apples. The Justice Department is charged with enforcement of Federal law. They are in charge of the FBI and the DEA. While it is the highest court in the land the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of Federal law including the United States Constitution. They are two completely different functioning bodies.