The Executive Branch Flashcards
What types of powers does the President have?
Formal powers given by the Constitution to carry out their role, which are fixed and cannot be changed. The formal powers are divided into enumerated, implied and inherent. The President is also given informal powers which are fluid and can change depending on popularity and circumstance.
What are the President’s formal powers?
. Executive powers - Preparing the annual federal budget (must be passed by Congress), The President is the Chief executive of federal government.
. Appointment powers - Appointing gov positions like the heads of departments (must be approved by the Senate), nominates all federal judges including the Supreme Court justices (must be confirmed by the Senate).
. Pardons - Can pardon people who are guilty of federal crimes, can reduce sentences.
. Foreign Affairs powers - Negotiates treaties (must be ratified with a 2/3 majority in the Senate), can deploy troops (the 1973 War Powers Act makes congress’s permission for military action necessary but many President’s have acted without their approval).
. Legislative powers - Introduces legislation to be debated in Congress, signs legislation passed by Congress, can veto legislation passed by congress.
What are the President’s informal powers?
. The power to persuade - Using authority and personal influence to convince political figures to support them.
. Deal making for support.
. Executive influence - Using the support of the VP, the cabinet officers and their lobbyists in the Office of legislative affairs to push forward their agenda.
. De facto party leader - As the head of their party, they can influence membership and if their party controls congress it’s easier to pass their legislation.
. Global influence as world leader.
. Direct authority and the stretching of powers.
What is direct authority and the stretching of powers?
Direct authority is the power to take action directly without consulting congress. This is achieved by stretching the President’s implied powers to create a set of new informal powers.
. Executive orders - An official order made by the President directly to the federal gov. It is has the effect of law but can easily be reversed by the next President. e.g Roosevelt used 3,731 and set the precedent for using direct authority.
. Signing Statements - Used when Presidents sign a bill into law but wish to comment on it. These are controversial as they can be used to achieve a line-item veto (veto a portion of a bill) which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1996 under the Line- Item Veto Act.
. Executive Agreement - One made between the USA and an international gov and doesn’t require senate ratficiation like a formal treaty e.g Trump withdrew from Obama’s 2015 Paris agreement on Climate change and his 2015 Iran Nuclear deal.
What is the Presidential Cabinet?
A group of advisors chosen by the President and confirmed by the Senate to help the President run the Government. It’s made up of 15 members who each head a government department e.g secretary of state, of eduction. They are policy specialists - often former politicians, academics, retired military leaders, lobbyists and business leaders.
How often does the Presidential Cabinet meet?
How often they meet is dependant on how the President wishes to use the Cabinet. E.g Reagan held more cabinet meetings than other Presidents, Biden’s had record diversity and Obama rarely met with his (average of 3.5 times per year) and he often used his meetings to brief members on a policy launch.
What are Policy Czars in the Cabinet?
They dominate the Cabinet and are responsible for a specific area of policy, often overlapping with the brief of a Cabinet member. Their appointments are not approved by the Senate and they have greater access to the President than a Cabinet member.
