President Flashcards
1
Q
What is the president?
A
The Chief executive of the federal government
2
Q
What does the president control?
A
Federal bureaucracy
3
Q
What is the federal bureaucracy made up of?
A
15 executive departments
4
Q
What does the president formulate?
A
The annual federal budget - setting out how much money the government will spend over the coming year
5
Q
Who actually writes the budget?
A
President’s Office of Management and Budget
6
Q
What did Trump do in 2020?
A
Broke the record for government spending to $4.8 trillion
7
Q
How can the budget be limited?
A
By congress
8
Q
How many people directly report to the president?
A
4 million
9
Q
What is a commission?
A
Formal document appointing someone to high office
10
Q
What is the first power the president has is legislating?
A
Proposing legislation
11
Q
What is the most public and important proposal of legislation?
A
State of the Union Address - Jan of each year
12
Q
What does the State of the Union Address do?
A
Presents legislative priorities to a joint session of both houses of Congress
13
Q
How does the president propose policies at other times?
A
High profile press conference or speech
14
Q
What happens to proposed legilsation?
A
Given to Congress for consideration
15
Q
What is leaving it on the desk used for?
A
Minor legislation or legislation that they do not agree with but would be unable to prevent Congress from passing
16
Q
When was the pocket veto used last?
A
Clinton in 2000 - Bankruptcy Reform Act
17
Q
What can the threat of vetoing do?
A
Pressure Congress to make changes that the president wants
18
Q
What is this known as?
A
Veto signalling
19
Q
When is veto signalling done?
A
State of Administration Policy
20
Q
How many times did Trump veto?
A
10 times - two were legislation that would have ended the state of emergency at the southwestern border
21
Q
Why did Trump declare a state of emergency?
A
Use FEMA to build the wall
22
Q
What bill was passed in 1921?
A
Budget and Accounting Act
23
Q
What did the Budget and Accounting Act do?
A
Budget by Feb - Senate debate but can pass their own budgets.
24
Q
How many times has the President called on Congress to open issues of economic and foreign policy?
A
27 times - last time in 1948
25
How many vetoes did Reagan use?
78 - 9 overridden
26
How many vetoes did Bush Snr. use?
44 - 1 overridden
27
How many vetoes did Clinton use?
37 - 2 overridden
28
How many vetoes did Bush Jnr. use?
12 - 4 overridden
29
How many vetoes did Obama use?
12 - 1 overridden
30
How many positions are there to be filled in the executive branch?
4000
31
How many positions are confirmed by the Senate?
700 - Heads of executive departments, head of independent federal agencies and US ambassadors
32
When does the president nominate SCOTUS justices?
When there is vacancy
33
How are nominees confimed?
Simple majority - appointed for life
34
What can less senior positions be made without?
Senate advice or consent
35
What are recess appointments?
Senior appointments without the senate's approval when they’re in recess.
36
What happened in 2012?
Rep House kept Congress from going on recess - prevent the president in 2012 from appointing Richard Cordray as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
37
What happened to the appointment of Cordray?
It was overturned
38
What is the President?
Commander in chief of the military
39
What can the President do?
Initiate military action - only Congress has the power to declare war
40
What act requires the president to ask for approval for military actions?
War Powers Act 1973
41
When did Clinton act without presidential approval?
Kosovo and other countries in the 1990s
42
When did Obama act without presidential approval?
Military intervention in Libya
43
What did Bush order?
Invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq as a part of the war on terror
44
What did Obama do?
Libya and Syria and used drone strikes to target and kill terrorists suspects in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia
45
What did Obama authorise?
The killing of BIn Laden
46
What did Trump order?
The death of Aby Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019
47
What did Trump authorise?
Drone strike to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020
48
What treaty reduced the number of strategic missile launches?
2010 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
49
How are presidents always able to launch nuclear weapons?
Carry the nuclear football around - act as a deterrent
50
Which president used the nuclear football?
Truman - Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945
51
What other foreign power does the president have?
Negotiations with foreign ambassadors
52
What does the power to grant pardons ensure?
Avoidance of the judiciary become tyrannical
53
Who was pardoned in 2019?
Jack Johnson for a 1913 offence
54
What crimes can be pardoned?
Any crimes already committed that an individual may be charge with in the future - Nixon and Ford
55
How do presidents show clemency?
Commuting a sentence - releases the prisoner but does not give them a formal pardon.
56
Who did Clinton pardon?
Own brother for drug offence
57
How many pardons did Clinton give?
140
58
What did Trump do in July 2020?
Commuted the sentence of his friend and advisor Roger Stone who was convicted of obstructing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
59
Who else did Trump pardon?
Steve Banon - charged with fundraising fraud in final hours
60
Who else was pardoned by Trump?
Sheriff Araipo - Arizona - charged for racially profiling - let off because the stereotypes "are true"
61
When are pardons not allowed?
Cases of impeachment
62
How many pardons did Nixon have?
500
63
How many pardons did Obama have?
52
64
What is a signing statement?
Sign a bill into law but wish to comment on it. Could be positive or argue that an aspect of the bill is unconstitutional and that their government will not enforce them.
65
Why are signing statements controversial?
Can be used to achieve a line-item veto - veto a portion of a bill
66
What are line-item vetoes?
Unconstitutional since 1996 via the Line Item Veto Act
67
How did Trump use a signing statement?
Trump used to criticise a 2017 bill imposing sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea - claimed it affected his constitutional powers to conduct foreign policy.
68
What did Obama use the signing statement for?
Ukraine Freedom Support Act 2014 - does not signal a change in the administration's sanctions policy - does not intend to impose sanctions.
69
How many signing statements did Reagan use?
250
70
How many signing statements did Bush snr use?
228
71
How many signing statements did Clinton use?
381
72
How many signing statements did Bush Jnr use?
161
73
How many signing statements did Obama use?
20
74
What is an executive agreement?
One made between the USA and an international government - signed by the president and don't require formal Senate ratification.
75
Why is an executive agreement used?
To avoid lengthy and unproductive negotiations with senators
76
What has happened to the number of executive agreements?
Increased dramatically - seen as circumventing the Senate
77
What can happen to executive agreements?
Can be abandoned by the next president - Trump withdrew from Obama's 2015 Paris agreement on climate change and his 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
78
What is an Executive Order?
A law but not passed by congress - order to do something - official order has to be implemented - a future president has to sign it - implied in Article 11.
79
How passed the most executive orders?
FDR - 3721
80
Example of an executive order?
Eisenhower Little Rock
Obama Minimum Wage
Creation of the Manhatten Project
War on Terror Bush
Muslim Travel Ban
81
What must executive orders be?
Constitutional - judge can suspend it
82
Example of executive orders being reversed?
Mexico City Programme - funding abortion abroad
83
Which executive order banned racial discrimination in the army?
9981 in 1948
84
Which executive order was Little Rock?
10730 in 1957
85
How many executive orders did Obama use?
203
86
How many executive orders did LBJ use?
325
87
How many executive orders did Reagan use?
381
88
What are executive privileges?
Power to withhold certain document or refuse to testify when requested by Congress.
Applies to confidential information that would threaten national security or the effective functioning of the government.
89
How many executive privileges did Reagan use?
3
90
How many executive privileges did Clinton use?
14
91
What happens when a president dies?
VP becomes president
92
What power does the VP have in the Senate?
Break a tie
93
Example of vP breaking a tie?
Chaney, 2001 - $1.6 billion tax cut
94
What does the VP do with elections?
Count then announce the electoral college vote
95
What is their title in the Senate?
Presiding Officer
96
What did Chaney do in 2001?
Acted as president during 9/11
97
What can a VP provide?
Name recognition
98
What can the VP be?
A springboard to presidential campaign
99
What has happened since Watergate?
Candidates aren't Washington Elite but they need an expert behind them
100
What special tasks does Harris have?
Texas and New Mexico - fix immigration
101
What did Biden have as a special task?
Gun control
102
What was Chaney's special task?
Defence during Iraq war and tasks on energy
103
Who is the sole executive authority in the US?
President
104
What is the team spirit function of the cabinet?
Ability of cabinet meetings to engender team spirit - important at the beginning of an administration - many will be complete strangers - help weld them together - once achieved, function ceases
105
What is it important for a president to do?
Seem collegial and consultative - especially since Nixon
106
What are media opportunities a good thing for?
The president to send a reassuring message that he is running an open administration
107
What can cabinet meetings provide?
Opportunities for both information giving and gathering. President can make statements knowing that every member has heard and he can go round the table asking cabinet officers what is going on in their departments.
108
What are some cabinet meetings used for?
Policy Debate
109
What do presidents present?
Big picture items that affect all officers: budget, elections, a major legislative initiative or foreign trip.
110
What did Obama do?
Used 30th September 2013 to discuss the likely implications of the upcoming partial shutdown of federal government.
111
How did Bush monitor congress?
Used 24 September 2002 cabinet meeting to push for congressional actions on military action in Iraq, passage of Homeland Security Bill and the budget.
112
How did Obama prompt Action?
Chuck Hagel - July 2014 - dragging his feet on the release of Guantanamo Bay prisoners - confronted by Obama.
113
What does the president use cabinets for?
See cabinet members whom he would not otherwise see - first tier cabinet officers - secretary of state or defence - likely to have frequent meetings - second tier cabinet officers. - veterans affairs or agriculture - probably not.
114
Who had all male cabinets?
Nixon and Reagan
115
Who appointed women?
Obama - 4
Bush Jnr. - 3
Trump - 2
116
Who was the first president to appoint a black cabinet member?
LBJ 1966
117
How many ethnic minorities did Bush have?
5
118
Who was Secretary of State for Bush
Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in the second term.
119
Who was Obama's Secretary of Justice?
Eric Holder
120
Why would the president have a variety of religions in their cabinet?
Reinforce the idea that they represent the whole country and not just segments of it where their support is strongest - state and religion of president is best represented.
121
What does the age of the cabinet reflect
President's age - Kennedy youngest president - average age 47
122
Who broke the age rule?
Bush - appointed one of the oldest cabinet - average age 58
123
What are represented ideologically?
Different wings of the party - liberal, conservative and New Democrats; conservative, moderate and Tea Party Republicans
124
What do presidents do for Congress members?
Ask serving members to give up their seats to join cabinet - prestige and job security are often in short supply - hard sell.
125
Who did Trump try to recruit?
Jeff Sessions and Tom Price and Ryan Zinke.
126
Why do presidents try to recruit governors?
Executive experience - much better suited to running a large federal bureaucracy than are former legislators.
127
Which governors joined Trump?
Jonny Perdue of Georgia and Rick Perry of Texas.
128
Why do presidents like mayors?
City mayors = executive experience - Obama's second-term cabinet included two former mayors - Anthony Foxx of Charlotte and Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas.
129
What other area do presidents look at?
Academia - Steven Chu - Obama - professor of physics at UoC - Ernest Moniz of MIT replaced him as secretary of energy.
130
When was the first cabinet?
1789 - Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Department of war
131
How many departments did Roosevelt have?
8 - interior and justice, agriculture and Labour.
132
What is the newest department?
Homeland Security
133
What did the 16th Amendment do
More to spend on federal programmes - funded New Deal.
134
What made more departments?
Great Society
135
What is the hierarchy of departments?
Secretary of State - cabinet - deputy Secretary of State - Assistant secretaries - ratified by Senate.
136
What are executive agencies?
Can become executive agencies from independent agencies.
Directors that run them - J. Edgar Hoover
137
Examples of executive agencies?
FBI, CIA, DEA, EPA, FDA, ICE
138
Examples of independent regulatory commissions?
Television and Radio - federal communications commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - investigates and enforces workplace discrimination laws.
Security and Exchange Commission - regulates financial bodies.
139
What are independent regulatory commissions?
Independent - led by a board of around 5 to 7 members - set terms - can't be replaced - party balance
140
What are government corporations?
Publicly owned companies
141
Examples of Government Corporations?
AMTRACK
USPS
142
What is the implementation function of agencies?
Executing laws passed by Congress - mail is delivered, taxes are collected, food is inspected and troops are trained.
143
What is the regulation function of agencies?
Write the rules needed to make the law work - finer details on the laws - full force of law - how the law will work in practice - greater expertise
144
What act needed more action?
1970 Clean Air Act - sulphur dioxide limits
145
What is the process of regulation?
Propose regulation - published - looks at the comments and amends it - added to Code of Federal Regulations - pressure groups can seek judicial review.
146
What is the adjudication function of agencies?
Settle disputes and enforce its rules and regulations in administrative hearings - EEOC - Adjudicate where an individual claims a company has discriminated when hiring or promoting
147
What happened in 2014?
EPA fined Hyundai and Kia $100 million for violating the CAA.
148
What does the president appoint?
Leaders, heads of agencies and departments - likely to share political position
149
What can presidents do?
Can remove them and replace them - Article II Section II - Myers v Uniter States - suggests the power to remove.
150
Who did Bush dismiss?
Mike Parker - after he testified to Congress that the cuts were too steep.
151
What established FTC with 7 years terms?
Humphrey's Executor v US - Roosevelt fired Humphrey for political reasons - members who could only be fired for inefficiency, neglect or misconduct.
152
How does congress check agencies?
Create, reorganise and eliminate agencies, withhold or limit funding, earmarks on how they spend money, block appointments, hold investigatory hearings
153
What did the Homeland Security Act do?
Merged all parts of 22 different federal departments and agencies to form the Department of Homeland Security
154
What happened to the EPA budget?
2010 - $10.3 billion budget - workforce 17,000. 2014 - Budget $8.2 billion, Workforce 15,408
155
What are the judicial checks on the agencies?
Have they acted constitutionally and with the law
156
Example of judicial check?
Utility Air Regulatory Group v EPA 2014 - struck down EPA regulations restricting greenhouse emissions - they exceed the agency's authority under the CAA.
157
What is the principle agent problem?
Bureaucrats have greater expertise - hard for officials to determine whose interests they are serving.
158
What do agencies do?
Agencies protect their own interests and can resist reform
159
What is the EXOP?
Executive office of the president
160
What spurred this?
Brownlow Committee to find why the president wasn't doing enough - "the president needs help". Not giving the president the tools to manage these organisations
161
What is under the EXOP?
White House office - typists and people to help the president. 6 diarists - 5 normal and then a chief diarists.
162
How many people work for the president directly?
500
163
Who is the most important?
Chief of Staff
164
What is special about the Chief of Staff?
They have an office next to the oval office - no lock between the rooms - hand in hand relationship - manages the 500 employees. Gatekeepers - control access to the president.
165
Who was Eisenhower's chief of Staff?
Sherman admas
166
How many CoS did Obama have?
4
167
Who was Bush snr's CoS?
John Sununu - only passed on his agenda
168
Who was Obama's CoS on Obamacare?
Rahm Emmanuel - went on to become twice mayor of Chicago
169
How long does a budget take to write?
2 years
170
Who needs confirmation by Congress in the OMB?
The Director - Congress passes the budget - can't have someone in charge who will ignore them.
171
Who was Bush snr's Director?
Bob Dorman - Read my Lips, no new taxes - middle of first Gulf War - raised taxes - balanced the budget.
172
Who was Clinton's Director?
Leon Panetta - trim the budget down without raising taxes.
173
What is the NSC?
National Security Council:
Chiefs of the armed forces.
Appoint generals to positions to help you.
174
Who is the NSA?
National Security Advisor
175
Who was Bush jnr's NSA?
Condoleezza Rice
176
What was the issue with Trump's EXOP?
Clientism - daughter had an enormous sway - Jared Kushner - access to the president
177
What is the spoil system?
Winning party can award people based on their support during an election - not based on merit - encouraged corruption
178
What did the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act 1883 do?
evaluate and appoint candidates based on merit - competitive exams used for 10% of civil service jobs with the rest remaining as political appointments.
179
What did the Civil Service Reform Act 1978 do?
United States Office of Personnel Management - staffing for 2.8 million jobs. 90% filled by merit, 10% political - positions filled by the president or most senior appointees = 4000 jobs. 1200 = 1200 require advice and consent of the Senate.
180
What happens if the president doesn't have party support?
Find it more difficult to pass legislation or have nominees confirmed during periods of divide government
181
What did the NRA do?
Convinced congress members to block Obama's gun control reforms
182
What can governors do?
Actively work against the president's agenda - impact limited to state.
183
Example of governors being difficult?
Obamacare - Bart Stupak - anti-abortion - catholic Democrat - 2010 caved in
184
What did Manchin vote against?
Build Back Better - $2.5 trillion
185
What constrains the president's actions?
Media - informs public opinion
186
What did Obama think?
His administration was unfairly attacked by Fox
187
What did Trump do?
Claimed fake news and adopted an aggressive approach
188
What limits the impact of the media?
People watch the news channel that supports their pre-existing political leaning.
189
What was the lowest approval rate?
49% for Trump
190
What was Obama's approval rating?
69%
191
What was Bush's approval rating?
90%
192
What was Trump's approval rating amongst core supporters?
85-90%
193
What was the National Labour Relations Board vs Noel Canning case?
Obama used recess appointments to appoint three new members to the NLRB - Block, Flynn and Griffin. Canning argued that the decision was invalid because the members were illegally appointed - not technically in recess - acted unconstitutionally - recess appointments not themselves unconstitutional
194
Who did Bush snr nominate?
Sam Fox for ambassador to Belgium - donated $50,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
195
What do presidents focus on in their first term?
Re-election and the economy
196
What do presidents focus on in their second term?
Foreign policy
197
When is the Lame Duck period?
2-3 months before January 20th
198
Who first coined the term of imperial president?
Arthur Schlesinger in 1973
199
What was the Stewardship Theory?
Any measure could be taken to help the American people - allowed any power that enables him to help people.
200
What is an example of the president being imperial?
Military Actions - Nison, Kennedy, Truman etc
201
What act was passed in 1972?
Case Zablocki Act
202
What did the Case Zablocki Act do?
Informing Congress of all international actions is mandatory
203
What is the War Powers Act?
Checked POTUS' ability to escalate conflict after 60 days.
204
How did Reagan abuse the War Powers Act?
Nicaragua and Iran
205
What happened after Watergate?
Presidents kinda became less imperial
206
Who were Washington insiders?
Truman, Johnson and Nixon
207
What happened after Nixon?
More likely to be outsiders - Carter, Reagan, Clinton and G. W. Bush
208
What was the trend between 1945-1977?
24 years occupied by a Washington insider - Eisenhower the exception
209
What was the trend between 1977 and 2010?
Occupied only for 4 years by a Washington insider
210
Who was W. Bush's chief of staff?
Andrew Card
211
What is political power?
Power to persuade - US president must persuade
212
What did Bush do in 2003?
proposed $726 billion tax cut to Congress - had both houses - still had to persuade - President headed out of Washington to target support for his proposals.
Work hard from limited success.
$350 billion tax cut finally agreed.
213
How did Clinton survive his impeachment?
His popularity
214
What has major influence on a president?
International politics - America's standing in the world
215
Why is moral authority important?
Integrity - worthy of collective and individual authority.
216
What did LBJ have a credibility gap over?
Vietnam
217
Why is credibility so important in times of war?
Sacrifice asked from citizens
