President notes and stuff

Question 1

What are informal powers that president has?

Answer 1

• Bargaining/persuation
• Exec orders
• Signing Statements
• Exec agreements

Question 2

Exec orders by Trump

Answer 2

55 per year on avg, hasn’t been that high since Carters era

Question 3

Lockdowns in states

Answer 3

By the end of March, 32 out of 50 states had lockdowns in place. This was based on guidelines from the federal government, but the decision to go into lockdown lay with the states. Furthermore, the exact nature of each lockdown varied significantly from state to state. It is important to stress that there has been no national or federal lockdown.

Question 4

Power of persuation

Answer 4

Presidential power is often called the power to pursuade - means powers are limited
- President uses white house as a state - attracts national attention - called the bully pulpit

Question 5

Declaring a national emergancy

Answer 5

National Emergancies Act 1976 - President has powers to declare national emergancy
- Trump did it in March 2020 - allowed him to access 50bn of emergancy funds

Question 6

What does a national emerfany do

Answer 6

gives president 136 additional powers - open to abuse by president - ability of congress to check is reactive - unhindered in short term - under his discression

Question 7

How many times has Trump done up national emergencies

Answer 7

6 times incl in 2019 to gain necessary funds to build a border wall - suggests the powers aint as significant as it may seem

Question 8

How has Congress used power of the purse during Covid

Answer 8

Trump asked congress to authorise 2.5bn to fight the bill - also tryna get exec to get more powers to redistribute federal funds (clause used by Trump to get wall)
- Congress hit back by passing 8.3bn to tackle crisis, bipartisanship was ridiculous - most of congress voted in favour of it

Question 9

How does SC check state power?

Answer 9

• Stop them from reopening places of worship and restricting abortions due to Covid

Question 10

June

Medical Services v Russo (2020)

Answer 10

Louisiana abortion law unconsitutional

Question 11

How does SC deal with emerfancy powers

Answer 11

Avoids reviewing them or upheld actions

Question 12

Summary of relationship between growth of powers and adaptibility of constitution

Answer 12

Q The presidency continues to evolve as it always has – as new technologies
and new threats emerge, so presidential power develops. The Constitution
therefore clearly has enough flexibility to allow this, whilst still allowing for
the evolution of checks.

Question 13

Exec orders significant

Answer 13

o Legal order without a vote in Congress (bypassing them). A powerful tool: Trump issued another Executive Order ‘to Promote Healthcare Choice and Competition’ which some opponents asserted effectively replaced ACA with a new healthcare regime (without having to go through Congress at all)

Question 14

Exec orders - not significant

Answer 14

o Scope of the executive orders is technically limited; if issuing an order is seen as identical to making new policy/law then constitutionally, Congress could have right to vote on it. President has to show therefore that he’s using them in a way that doesn’t fall under Congress’ legislative role; whilst most orders remain intact, some are blocked: when Trump issued one banning immigration from 7 countries, it was halted by a federal judge over concerns regarding religious discrimination.
Power limited also from challenges within executive; Attorney General Sally Yates instructed Justice Dept lawyers not to enforce it, Trump having had members of EXOP secretly consult House Judiciary committee to help create it, with Defence Dept not consulted. President also has to take into account potential public and congressional outcry (as occurred with the ‘Muslim ban’), which could hinder ability to make deals with Congress

Question 15

How does national events significant as president power

Answer 15

o National events like natural disasters, economic crises and terrorist attacks have large impacts of presidential powers; can reduce President’s time or other policy/impact public opinion. Bush - 9/11 approval rating

Question 16

How does national events

not significant as president power

Answer 16

o It seems, especially with Trump, he is able to recover from any kind of dent to popularity; his approval ratings currently (12/5/19) sitting at 42%. Also, arguably national events less significant if the president has a large electoral mandate, unified govt, etc

Question 17

Cabinet being significant informal power

Answer 17

o Inc. VP/heads of 15 executive depts, plus Cabinet level officials like Chief of staff. Important role in helping President make/execute policy, with individual members able to act as key policy advisors, w/positions like secretaries of state and treasury often having major impact on policy. Example of John Kerry as secretary of state taking central role in foreign policy, working on Israeli-Palestine peace accords having visited 11 times in 2013/14, plus taking key role on approaches to Syria
VP - Mike Pence ., Pence phoned Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, in January 2019, and told him Trump would back him if he declared himself Venezuela’s interim president, whilst also escalating US/China tensions in 2018 speech warning that ‘we will not stand down’

Question 18

Cabinet - not significant

Answer 18

o As a collective group, the Cabinet has very limited power; limited number of meetings taking place each year. It also has no constitutional status allowing it to control policy and can’t claim any national mandate; the president has the final say. President’s may side-line individual members (e.g. Trump dismissing Sally Yates, see above). Example of Trump cabinets where MSNBC report the first one (which he held 6 months into his presidency, 2 months later than Obama’s first) involved Trump getting each member to talk about how happy they are to be on his team: ‘cult-like’.

Question 19

Office of legislative affairs

Answer 19

Members of the WHO who work as full time lobbyists for the president -

Question 20

How does the VP do up presidential persuation

Answer 20

If they’ve had experience in Congress - Biden under oBAMA - KEY FOR BIG TICKET ISSUES SUCH AS ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE - vp ALSO HAS OFFICE IN CONGRESS - PRESIDENT OF SENATE AS WELL

Question 21

Is presidents power power to persuade - YES

Answer 21

• President has no formal disciplinary hold over members of congres
• Party discipline in congress, through tighter than it used to be, cannot guarantee votes for the president
• President may be faced with one or both houses controlled by the other parry
• President can offer his support for things members of congress find important

Question 22

Is presidents power power to persuade - NO

Answer 22

• In era of partisanship, few members of congress from opposition party are open to presidental persuation, esp on big ticket items
• Partisanship makes persuasion less useefull
• President have low approval ratingsj and therefore persuasion is less effective
• Second term presidents have their persuasive power v limited

Question 23

WHO

Answer 23

o Include closest aides and advisers. Chief of staff most important as overview of all EXOP offices. Connection between advisers, officers and president. Reince Priebus Trump’s pick given position as chair of Republican National Committee: offering opportunity to make connections with senior Republican figures to gain congressional support.

Question 24

Limitation of NSC

Answer 24

o President can bypass NSC e.g. Trump politicising office by including Steve Bannon as a senior councillor in the NSC, eventually removing him from this sensitive security position. Susan Rice former NSA tweeted: ‘this is stone cold crazy’. Or Obama having side-lined NSA James Jones, not part of his inner circle

Question 25

How does seperation of power ensure power to persuade

Answer 25

o Founding Fathers all were rebelling against British imperialist oppression, explaining their preoccupation with preventing tyranny; thus, a system with three separated branches of governmental power were created that would all provide ‘checks’ and ‘balances’ on each other to ensure no one branch can become tyrannical. This means the president must rely on persuasion in order to enact his legislative agenda. See examples in above essay e.g. personal phone calls, state of union address

Question 26

Congresional ‘power of the purse’ for

Answer 26

Congress has the capability to both tacitly approve and also prevent the President from doing as he pleases in the military field, the President must consequently seek to persuade them to continue supporting intervention and allocating funds. This is consolidated by the ‘War Powers Act’ that was signed to stop Nixon continuing action in Vietnam,

Question 27

Executive order use enacting legislative agenda

Answer 27

whilst Barack Obama’s executive order use was marked by frustration with a Congress that refused to co-operate. Perhaps Obama’s most famous executive order comes in the form of the ‘Iran Deal’ which did not require Congressional approval

Question 28

• Divided govt Congress increasing scrutiny

Answer 28

e.g. AOC signing onto Rashida Tlaib’s impeachment resolution, or House democrats issuing subpoenas for former Trump aide Hope Hicks, Don McGahn, the full Mueller Report, Trump’s tax returns, etc

Question 29

• Congress gets a separate mandate and President has limited patronage powers because of separation of powers

Answer 29

o Congress stronger mandate with House renewing mandate every 2 years. Congresspersons voting according to constituents, unwilling to toe party line. 12 republican senators who approved a proposal to revoke Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the US-Mexico border in March 2019.

Question 30

Congress limits to a small extent - - President ability in setting national agenda

Answer 30

o Can use national campaigns with television, radio and social media to sell ideas e.g. Trump promoting agenda of repealing ACA, immigration reform and infrastructure expenditure making it easier to ensure Congress debated his political priorities. This agenda setting important in enabling president to become dominant force in legislative process, furthered through veto power, growth of EXOP and unified govt:

Question 31

Example of SC reducing presidents power

Answer 31

o The US District Court for the Southern District of New York blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds from states that “refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in tracking down illegal aliens.”, citing the 10th Amendment as a ‘check’ against that kind of ‘tyranny’, with Judge Edgardo Ramos saying that the ‘Executive Branch’ shouldn’t have the power to determine that kind of policy.

Question 32

Example of SC independence of Pres

Answer 32

Trump v. Vance - (7-2) 2020- Trump wasn’t immune from soepena in releasing tax returns - Brett Kavanaugh supported it

Question 33

• President massive power to influence ideological balance in ability to nominate judges

Answer 33

Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh further provides important shift to the conservative, perhaps signalling beginning of the end for Roe v Wade (esp. if Trump or another republican president gets to replace RBG)

Question 34

Congress most significant limiting factor on pres

Answer 34

• Congress gets a separate mandate and President has limited patronage powers because of separation of powers
• Divided govt Congress increasing scrutiny
• Congressional national agenda
• Congress ‘checks’ on President inc. power of the purse/Vetoing presidential vetoes

Question 35

Other limiting factor on pres

Answer 35

• Congress can be bypassed (executive orders, commander in chief)
• Popularity more important (electoral mandate)
• Mid-terms and election cycle (lame duck presidency) more important
• Supreme Court more important (ability to declare presidential acts unconstitutional)
• Events more important

Question 36

• Executive agreements

Answer 36

o Enables president to make agreement with another country without Senate ratification (bypassing rules of treaties), like Obama’s Iran deal 2015: lifting trade embargos in return for Iran ending aim to be nuclear power, or 2015 secret China environment deal agreeing to US and Chinese attempts to reduce CO2 emissions

Question 37

How does the president control foreign policy from a constitutional perspective?

Answer 37

o Constitution gives president significant foreign policy powers, especially as ‘commander in chief’; presidents have used this to act unilaterally, like Obama in Libya (2011) and strikes in Iraq /Syria in fight against Islamic state.
o Position as head of state and chief diplomat allows them to conduct foreign relations with other countries. Obama worked with countries like Iran, China and Cuba without congressional leaders and Trump with North Korea. President driving force in these aspects of foreign policy.

Question 38

How does the Congress control foreign policy from a constitutional perspective?

Answer 38

o Congress ‘power to declare war’, presidents therefore often defer to congressional authorities by putting proposed attacks to a vote in both legislative chambers, like with Iraq war 2003. 1973 War Powers Act further restricting president, stating president can only commit troops with congressional approval unless there’s a national emergency, and that Congress has right to withdraw troops, and president must withdraw them after 60 days of notifying Congress if they hadn’t voted to approve military action, as Clinton was forced to withdraw troop from Somalia.
- Also senate power to ratify treaties

Question 39

How does the President control foreign policy from a political perspective?

Answer 39

o Failure of war powers act, with Presidents asserting it has no constitutional authority. E.g. Obama denying his Libya actions could be limited as operations there didn’t involve sustained fighting, or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, or ground troops.
o President with a personal mandate and looked to by US citizens for foreign policy initiatives; Congress passive, meant to defer to president. When congressional leaders have attempted to take control of foreign policy they’ve often received widespread criticism for usurping role of the president, like Pelosi criticised for her decision to visit Assad in Syria in 2007, or John Boehner’s decision to invite Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress seen by many as overstepping his authority; criticism even from some US Jewish groups

Question 40

How does congrss control foreign policy from a political perspective?

Answer 40

Under Trump, frequent criticism for his foreign policy actions like moving US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, pulling out of Paris Agreement, not certifying Iran deal, meetings with Kim Jong Un, etc

Question 41

How does president control foreign policy from a practical perspective?

Answer 41

o Technological changes mean public and Congress have to put more faith in presidential decision making as war has become faster and more deadly. Decisions must be made with speed, secrecy and expertise given current weaponry - much more suited to office of the presidency than Congress. Rise of EXOP, especially NSC, gives president a key advantage, holding critical information that is classified

Question 42

How does congress control foreign policy from a practical perspective?

Answer 42

o Depends on foreign policy; attacks on Libya, Syria, Bosnia or Somalia arguably militarily acceptable to consult Congress, and presidential advantages don’t apply to treaty making and trade deals. Furthermore, Congress has own expertise in foreign affairs, like Senate committee on Foreign Relations - senators with huge experience in foreign policy like Joe Biden and John Kerry. Closed sessions of Congress allow committees to receive sensitive information in which they can challenge executive action