imperial vs imperilled presidency Flashcards
introduction:
Although there is evidence to suggest that there is an imperial president due to informal power the President has such as ‘executive orders allowing the President in many occasion to bypass Congress; overall however this essay will argue that there is not an imperial President,
as ‘imperial action’ by the president are often short term as they can be reversed by the next president and
as a president’s power wanes due to factors like divided government overtime, and a decrease in popularity, teh prescient can easily become imperilled
counter- imperial, due to executive orders
can be passed without consulting congress :where a president can instruct the executive branch to
carry-out/not carry out certain procedures without consulting Congress
examples for imperial due to executive orders
examples:
Obama’s DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy, which provided temporary relief from deportation for certain undocumented immigrants, enacted without congressional approval.
Trump’s 2017 executive order restricting travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.
eval for imperial on executive orders,
Through executive orders, without the need to consult Congress supports the view that there is an imperial presidency
imperilled due to executive orders
President’. Excessive use of exec orders suggests an inability/inadequacy to get
legislation through, as the president is unable to persuade and thus has to bypass congress in this manner. Also important to note that executive orders can be removed after a president leaves office - they are short term
examples for imperilled due to executive orders
eg) Bush’s executive order on stem cell research, which limited federal funding for research involving new embryonic stem cell lines, was reversed by Obama in 2009, showing how these orders can be short-lived.
orders can also be limited by supreme court - limited by congress or courts
The Supreme Court’s ruling in 2016 blocked Obama’s DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) program, highlighting that the courts can prevent executive overreach.
Thus power can be constrained if Congress or the Court feels that the President has exceeded constitutional limits, thus the president’s power is controllable, and consequently not imperial,
signing statements as evidence for an imperial presidency
Statement written and signed by the president at the same time as signing a piece of legislation. A president is able to use signing statements to bypass Congress. Often asserting the right to ignore those sections of a bill which, in the view of the administration, unconstitutionally infringed the president’s authority
Signing statements can be seen as evidence of an imperial president, as the power to influence/remove.add sections onto a bill as a signing statement is not a power given to the President constitutionally and exceeds limits in terms of a President signing or vetoing a bill.
examples of signing statements being imperial
e.g in 2014, Obama signed the National Defence Authorisation Act to which Obama issued a signing statement rejecting a Clause. Obama’s Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap which swapped 5 prisoners for one US soldier.
Obama’s 2014 signing statement regarding the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) rejected certain restrictions on transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
In the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange in 2014, Obama bypassed a legal requirement to notify Congress 30 days in advance of such a transfer, citing executive authority in national security matters.
signing statements as evidence of an imperilled presidency
Many signing statements have limited constitutional significance. A resident can issue such words but may find it difficult to actually bring about any change .Signing statements are only words on a page - Congress may insist a law must be passed and the Supreme Court could force the president to follow Congress’s intentions.
executive statements can easily ignored by
Congress significance depends heavily on whether there is a united or divided government and the popularity of the president - which usually wanes after midterm elections. resistance=imperills
example of imperilled presidency due to signing statements
Despite his signing statements, Obama struggled to push key parts of his domestic agenda, including immigration reforms, even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress early in his presidency.
