In most writing, “federal government” is lowercase. You capitalize “Federal Government” only when a style guide tells you to, or when the phrase is being used as a proper noun to name the United States as a specific party in a legal document. The question of whether federal government is capitalized has no single answer because the major style authorities disagree, and the right choice depends on which one controls your document.
The Default Is Lowercase
Treated generically, “federal government” is a common noun describing a type of governing system, not the name of a specific entity. It behaves the same way “city council” or “county board” behaves when you’re speaking about them in general. Write that the federal government funds highway construction, or that federal government spending rose last quarter, and both words stay lowercase.
The Chicago Manual of Style puts it plainly: the federal government is “just a government” rather than a single official entity, so it doesn’t warrant capitalization. Capitals are reserved for specific official bodies like Congress, the Senate, or the Department of State.1The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Headlines and Titles of Works 15 The Associated Press Stylebook agrees: “federal” stays lowercase as a general term and is capitalized only when it’s part of a proper noun like the Federal Reserve.2HHS.gov. Web Style Guide
When You Should Capitalize It
The U.S. Government Publishing Office breaks from CMOS and AP. Under GPO Rule 3.20, “Federal” and “Federal Government” are capitalized whenever they refer specifically to the United States government. The same rule capitalizes “the Republic,” “the Nation,” “the Union,” and “the Government” as proper references to the U.S., while keeping “republic,” “federal,” and “nation” lowercase in general use. The convention extends to other national governments too: GPO capitalizes “French Government” or “the Federal Council” of Switzerland when naming those specific entities, but keeps “government” lowercase in generic references like “European governments.”3U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual. GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016
Outside GPO publications, you’ll also see “Federal Government” capitalized in formal legal instruments where the phrase names a specific party. A contract reading “Agreement between the State of Texas and the Federal Government” treats the term as a defined proper noun for purposes of that document. Capitalization there signals that “the Federal Government” is a named actor with defined rights and obligations, not a casual reference to national-level authority.
How the Major Style Guides Split
The three dominant authorities fall into two camps. Match your document to its controlling guide and apply that rule.
- GPO Style Manual: Capitalize “Federal” and “Federal Government” whenever you mean the U.S. government specifically. Also capitalize “the Government” standing alone when it clearly refers to the United States.3U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual. GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016
- Chicago Manual of Style: Lowercase “federal government” in all general references. Capitalize only specific named bodies like Congress or the Department of Justice.1The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Headlines and Titles of Works 15
- AP Stylebook: Lowercase “federal” as a general modifier. Capitalize only when it’s part of a formal proper noun like the Federal Reserve.2HHS.gov. Web Style Guide
Government reports and agency publications follow GPO, so capitalize. Newspapers, magazines, and general-audience writing follow AP or CMOS, so lowercase. For academic legal writing, the Bluebook offers its own instruction: capitalize “Federal” when the word it modifies is also capitalized. “Federal Bureau of Investigation” gets a capital F because “Bureau of Investigation” is capitalized. “Federal law” stays lowercase because “law” is a common noun.
“Federal” Alone Before a Common Noun
“Federal” standing in front of a common noun stays lowercase in nearly every context. Write “federal law,” “federal court,” “federal agency,” and “federal judge” without capitalizing either word. The adjective is doing descriptive work, distinguishing national institutions from state or local ones, not naming a specific entity.4Temple Law Review. Rule A.9: Capitalization
The exception is when “Federal” is baked into an official proper name. Capitalize the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Register, and the Federal Trade Commission, because removing “Federal” would break the name. The same holds for statute titles: when “Federal” is part of the official short or popular title, it’s capitalized along with the other important words, as in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.5U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual. Chapter 3 – Capitalization Rules The practical test: if the word belongs to a specific organization, statute, or publication, capitalize it. If it’s just naming the level of government, don’t.
Court Filings Follow Their Own Convention
Briefs, motions, and memoranda layer additional conventions on top of general style rules. In a court filing, capitalize “Court” when referring to the court that will receive the document, even if that court would ordinarily take a lowercase c in academic writing.6The Bluebook Online. B8 Capitalization This is a courtesy of practice, not a ranking.
The same logic drives “Government” in criminal filings. When the United States is the prosecuting party, capitalizing “the Government” throughout the brief is standard, because the term names a specific party to the action.7Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog. Capitalization in Briefs to a Trial Court In a law review article analyzing federal prosecutions generally, “the government” would be lowercase under CMOS-influenced style. Same word, different role, different capitalization.
Pick a Rule and Hold the Line
The real risk isn’t choosing the wrong rule. It’s mixing rules inside one document. A brief that capitalizes “Federal Government” on page two and writes “federal government” on page eight signals carelessness to a judge, and judges notice. Decide before you draft which style guide controls, apply its rule consistently from start to finish, and resist the urge to capitalize for emphasis. In legal writing, capitalization signals specificity, not importance.