Federal Council (Switzerland)

Federal Council
Bundesrat (German) Conseil fédéral (French) Consiglio federale (Italian) Cussegl federal (Romansh)
The 2024 Federal Council (from left to right) Viktor Rossi (Federal Chancellor) Élisabeth Baume-Schneider Ignazio Cassis Karin Keller-Sutter (Vice-President) Viola Amherd (President) Guy Parmelin Albert Rösti Beat Jans
Style	His/Her Excellency
Status	Head of state Head of government
Appointer	Federal Assembly
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	Ulrich Ochsenbein Jonas Furrer Martin J. Munzinger Henri Druey Friedrich Frey-Herosé Wilhelm Matthias Naeff Stefano Franscini
Formation	1848; 176 years ago (1848)
Salary	SFr 472,958 annually per councillor[1]
Website	admin.ch

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Switzerland
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Federal Council Members (by seniority) Beat Jans Guy Parmelin Ignazio Cassis Viola Amherd (President) Karin Keller-Sutter (Vice President) Albert Rösti Élisabeth Baume-Schneider Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi Federal administration
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The Federal Council^[2] is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions.

While the entire Federal Council is responsible for leading the federal administration of Switzerland, each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The President of the Swiss Confederation chairs the council, but exercises no particular authority; rather, the position is one of a first among equals and rotates among the seven Councillors annually.

The Federal Council is elected as a body by the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland for a term of four years after each federal parliamentary election, without the possibility of recall or a vote of no confidence. Incumbents are not term-limited and are by convention almost always re-elected; most serve around 8 to 12 years in office.