3.1 The Presidency: formal powers Flashcards
the presidency and the constitution
requirements to be president
- 35 years old
- US citizen
- resident of the USA for 14 years
the presidency and the constitution
what does the beginning of Article II say about presidential power
- Article II lists power is vested in ‘a president’ implying executive powers are held by him alone, but the presidency today is far bigger than 1 person
the presidency and the constitution
section 1 Article II - nature of the presidency
what does it include?
- executive power vested in ‘a president’
- 4 year terms
- explanation of presidential elections
- presidential requirements
- must be 35 years old, a US born citizen and a resident of 14 years
the presidency and the constitution
section II powers of the president
what does it include?
- commander in chief
- require the opinion of heads of deperatments
- pardons and reprieves
- make treaties
- appoint ambassadors, judges, officials
- recess appointments
the presidency and the constitution
section III - responsibilities of the president
- state of the union address to congress
- convene special sessions of congress
- recieve ambassadors
- faithfully execute laws
the presidency and the constitution
section IV - impeachment
- impeachment for ‘Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and misdemeanors’
the presidency and the constitution
executive employment in 2018
- 2.1m civilian employees, nearly 1.5m uniformed military employees
the presidency and the constitution
constitution types of power for the president
- expressed (enumerated) - explicitly stated, eg. commander in chief
- Implied powers: implied by the constitution, eg. Article II expressly allows for the president to appoint ‘officers of the united states’ which would include cabinet members today.
the presidency and the constitution
enumerated powers of the president
- commander in chief
- negotiating treaties
- state of the union address
- appointing ambassadors, judges, officers of the US
- recess appointments
- pardons
- convene special sessions of congress
- approve/veto legislation
the presidency and the constitution
implied powers of the presidnet
- establish a cabinet
- executive agreements
- executive orders
- executive privileg
the presidency and the constitution
amendments that affect the presidency
- 12th amendment: refines the electoral procedure for the president and VP
- 20th amendment: moves inaugeration from 3 march to 20 jan
- 22nd amendment limits any president to 2 terms
- 25th amendment: clarifies the line of succession for an incapacitated president
formal sources of presidential power
approving legislation
sign a bill
- president often signs bill in a public ceremony with media present, due to the small amount of legislation passsed each session
- Eg. Biden and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 2021 was outside the white house, surrounded by members of congress, the VP and a brass band
- Eg. Trump and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 many pictures are of Trump alone in the Oval Office, partly due to the rushed nature of the ceremony after press reports suggesting he would not get the bill signed before christmas
- Eg. Obama had 60 bill signing ceremonies
formal sources of presidential power
approving legislation
veto a bill
- allows the president the final say over legislation, given the difficulty of a veto override
- however, a president may not use it very often if they want to pass their agenda
- If congress can override the veto, it makes the president look weak
- Eg. Bush had 4/12 vetoes overridden, which is almost double the amount of any 20th century president
- Trump had just 1/12 overridden
formal sources of presidential power
approving legislation
veto a bill
threatening
a threat can be enough
- Trump threatened to veto the National Defense Authorisation Act 2020 bc it included a liability shield for social media companies. He vetoed it, but congress overrodde it
- Trump also signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill just hours after he threatened to veto it on twitter
vetoes are more commonly used and overriden when a gov is divided
formal sources of presidential power
approving legislaton
take no action
- president has 10 days to decide, then action becomes automatic
- If congress is in recess, the bill ‘dies’ (pocket veto), but this is increasingly rare
- a president may do this if they fear looking weak and receiving a veto override
formal sources of presidential power
approving legislation
take no action
2016 obama e.g
Obama allowed a renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act 1996 to become law without his signature
- it appeared inconsistent with the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal he struck
formal sources of presidential power
state of the union
method + factors affecting success
- since Woodrow Wilson, it has been delivered by congressional address
- annual legislative request from the President to Congress
- often depends on other factors such as strength of the presidential mandate, timing in the election cycle, and the president’s popularity
formal sources of presidential power
state of the union
policy vs. success/failure
Trump: called again for repealing obamacare (2018) —- failure, 2017 attempts failed and courts were left to decide many issues
Biden called for support for Ukraine 2022 —– success. $13.6b pledged within the $1.5 trillion spending bill
appointments
appointments
- president can appoint around 4000 officials, with roughly 1200 of these needing senate confirmation
- includes supreme court justices and cabinet positions, confirmed by a senate majority vote
- constitution
- president can also establish a cabinet (implied)
- other officials are often symbolic policy areas that a president believes are a priority
appointments
Obama, Trump, Biden supreme court appointments
- Obama: Sonia Sotomayor
- Elena Kagan
- Merrick Garland (expired)
- Trump: Neil Gorsuch
- Brett Kavanaugh
- Amy Coney Barrett
- Biden: Kentanji Brown Jackson
appointments
Obama, Trump, Biden notable cabinet nominees
- Obama: Judd Gregg (commerce) republican nominee who withdrew ovre differneces with Obama
- Church hagel - republican nominated as Defense Secretary
- Trump: Betsy DeVos (education) - tie breaking vote cast by VP Pence
- Biden: Merrick Garland - had been Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Biden appointed him as attorney general
appointments
recess appointments
- allows president to make temporary appointments to vacancies thath ave occured which would usually require Senate confirmation but the senate is in recess. They expire at the end of the next session of the senate
- Clinton made 139 recess appointments, G.W. Bush made 171 including John Bolton to the role of US ambassador after a long democratic filibuster
appointments
recess appointments
obama, recess appointments and the supreme court
- obama made just 32 recess appointments: challenged in the Supreme Court
- Jan 2012, the senate was in a 3 day ‘recess’ and Obama made 4 appointments. But the senate at the time was in a ‘pro forma’ session, meaning each day a senator would bang the gavel in the chamber so technically the senate wasn’t in recess, even though no buisiness was taking place
- NRLB vs Canning 2014 was heard in the Supreme Court, and 3 recess appointments were invalidated
grant repreives and pardons
what are they
- president can forgive people for a federal (not a state) offense
- only thing that cannot be pardoned is impeachment, which explains why Nixon resigned before he was impeached
- whether someone can pardon themselves is still up for debate, especially since Trump claims he had the ‘absolute’ right to pardon himself
Grant repreives and pardons
example
- Ford and Carter pardoned hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the Vietnam War drafted
Grant repreives and pardons
commutations
- what repreives has evolved to mean
- commutations can be used to free someone from a current sentence, while pardons are usually issued after someone has served their sentence
- commutations do not change the guilt of a person, but remove/lessen the sentence
- Obama issued 330 commutations to people convicted of drug offences on his last day in office.
- Trumps commutations of 1500 rioters
convene special sessions of congress
what is it?
- President can call either or both houses back from recess, rarely used today, but has been used in the past
- Eg. with the entireity of congress convened on convene special sessions of congress 27 occasions and the senate alone a further 46 times
- for the senate most of these have been due to the senates unique powers
- the whole of congress has been recalled to deal with international situations, Eg. F.D. Roosevelt in 1939 regarding US neutrality in what would be WW2
commander in chief
power in the constitution, today + limits
- constitutionally the head of the army and navy
- this now includes air forces, marines, coast guard and space force
- this power has broadened overtime, since the last war was declared in 1942
commander in chief
war powers act 1973
key eg.
- attempt by congress to regain control of the commander in chief power
- widely been interpreted as unconstitutional by many president, and their unwillingness to adhere to it has not been challenged
- requires the President to notify congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action
- forbids armed forces for remaining more than 60 days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without congressional authorisation
make treaties (inc. executive agreements)
power
- to create treaties with other nations, with the consent of the senate
- formal treaties Eg. New Strategic Arms Reducation treaty 2010 requires negotiation by the president and 2/3 approval in the senate
make treaties (inc. executive agreements)
executive agreements
- don’t require senate approval
- seen as a way of getting around this step
- similiar to treaties
- obama negotiated the Iran Nuclear Deal and the Paris Agreement on climate change this way
- though they do often require joint resolution of congress before they are fully enforceable.
make treaties (inc. executive agreements)
power over the military within the USA
- federal troops have been deployed in the case of national emergencies
- Eg. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster in 2010
- illegal unless authorised by congress, but both G.W. Bush and Obama have also sent troops to the US-Mexico border
make treaties (inc. executive agreements)
senate and the president treaties
what can the presdient do without the senates approva;l?
- even if a treaty has been approved by the Senate
- the president retains the right to remove the USA from a treaty without asking the senate
recieving ambassadors
power
- rrecieving ambassadors from other countries
- by doing so, or not, the president is recognising nations and deciding who the USA will work with
recieving ambassadors
examples
- Bush recognised Kosovo in 2008
- Obama recognised Sudan in 2011 establushing diplomatic relations with these countries
- Obama met with Dalai Lama 4x in the white house, he was an exile from Tibet and a recognised campaigner for Tibetan independence, Obama’s willingness to meet with him caused considerable anger from the chinese government
- trump metw ith King Jong-Un, becoming the first US presdient to cross into North Korea and recognising the regime
