The extent of presidential accountability to congress Flashcards
What does presidential accountability to congress vary according to?
External circumstances
List the 4 main ways that congress can hold the president to account
- Amending, delaying or rejecting their legislative proposals
- The power of purse
- The senate’s power of their appointments
- Investigation and impeachment
Why is blocking legislation not that effective during period of unified government?
Because congress is far less likely to do this if the president is from their own party
Why can the president not take votes for granted even in unified government?
Because if the legislation they are proposing lacks coherence or is electorally unpopular then they will reject it
Give some examples of this happening so badly that congress would not even vote on their president’s legislation
- Clinton’s healthcare reforms in 1993-4
- Bush’s social security reforms 2003-4
Give an example of a unified congress voting down their president’s legislation?
Trump’s 2017-8 repeal of Obamacare
Why is the president not secure even if congress supports their legislation?
They may have to accept amendments, like with Obamacare, as the original was seen as too radical for conservative Ds to support
Why did Bush have it easier than other post 1993 presidents in terms of passing legislation?
Because he enjoyed 6 years of unified government rather than just 2
Why did Obama achieve more than Clinton?
Due to his administrations superior organisation
Why was Trump legislatively ineffective?
He only had unified government for half his term and lacked the organisation to pass his major priorities, namely the repeal of Obamacare. His political inexperience was probably a major factor here
What did the FF try to encourage between the president and congress with how they framed the constitution?
Concessions and cooperation
What is an unintended consequence of the separation of powers for the FF?
The fact that divided government often leads to government shutdowns when trying to pass budgets
What does the increase of party polarisation in the senate mean for the president?
That their appointments have never been under more scrutiny
Explain how Clinton could not rely on the senate for appointments even in times of unified government
He had to withdraw the nomination of Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood for attorney general in 1993 when it transpired that both had hired undocumented workers. The D senate made it clear to the president that neither would be acceptable
Explain how Bush could not rely on the senate for appointments even in times of unified government
He had to withdraw Harriet Miers as his SC nomination in 2005 as the R senate made it clear she had neither the judicial experience nor the ideological conservatism to be successful
Explain how Trump could not rely on the senate for appointments even in times of unified government
He had to withdraw Andrew Puzder as his nomination for secretary of labour in 2017, when senate majority leader Mitch McConnell informed the president that questions concerning his business practise and his personal life meant that he did not have enough votes to be confirmed
Why are things worse during divided government?
Because the president will often find that the senate is incredibly hostile to their appointments
What would some detractors say about the senate?
That it has exceeded its role in scrutinising for partisan advantage
Give an example of the senate being perhaps unreasonable
In 2016, the R Senate refused to even consider Obama’s SC nomination, Merrick Garland
What are congressional investigations an important form of?
Oversight
What is the criticism of investigation during times of unified government?
Congress has been criticised for not being rigorous or thorough enough in its investigation
What is the criticism of investigation during times of divided government?
Critics have argued that congressional oversight is just a polite term for trying to embarrass the president and their administration
Explain the state of government throughout Clinton’s presidency
He enjoyed two years of unified government before facing 6 years of divided government where he came under intense scrutiny from republicans
Give an example of this scrutiny during his first term
The administration was caught in what initially appeared to be a minor controversy involving inproprieties in the WH travel office. The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee published a highly critical report in 1996 just before the presidential election
What did this scandal become known as?
Travelgate
What did Ds accuse this of being?
A politically motivated smear
Give an example of this scrutiny in his second term
His 1998-8 impeachment by the House was based on perjury and obstruction of justice concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He was acquitted by a D controlled senate
Why did Bush had more luck w congress?
Because he enjoyed unified government for most of his time in office
Describe congressional oversight over these years
Light
How does D House Representatives Steny Hoyer describe this oversight?
He says it was light even by the standards of unified government
What does R senator Chuck Hagel say about congressional oversight at this time?
He says that Congress should be blamed for failing to properly scrutinise Bush’s case for the Iraq war
Give his direct quote here
‘We let all of this unfold in front of our eyes with very little questioning, very little oversight’
How does Hagel blame unified government for this?
He says that the scrutiny was light because of unified government, making the point that if a D president had been in charge of a R congress congress would have been much more interested in keeping watch on his actions
What was the turning point for the Bush presidency?
When the Rs lost control of both houses of congress in the 2006 midterms
How did this make life harder for Bush?
The president found that executive actions were being scrutinised by some very fiesty committee chairs
Give an example of one of these committee chairs
Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, active in his role for more than 50 years, who made it clear that congress was not a rubber stamp
What parallel challenge did Clinton and Obama face?
They both had to spend six years dealing with a hostile R congress
What did this lead to for Obama?
Some quite partisan investigations
What did House Rs organise 6 committees and publish 13 separate reports about?
The terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, with Mitt Romney accusing Obama of taking too long to declare that it was an act of terrorism
What did the Obama administration accuse the Rs of doing here?
Using accountability as a political weapon
Give an example of where congress can be accused of not investigating enough during the Obama years
When the NSA spying scandal broke in 2013
Describe this scandal
Congress seemed to be ignorant of the fact that the NSA were recording the phone calls of hundreds of millions of Americans, regardless of any wrongdoing. These intrusive searches were done to protect the US from terrorism under the 2001 Patriot Act, but it trespassed on individual liberty
Explain how congress was quick to act once the matter became public knowledge
The subsequent 2015 Freedom Act included safeguards for civil liberties
How was the act limited?
The basic structure of the counter terrorism programme which had allowed the scandal to happen remained intact
What did Trump’s controversial presidency mean for his administration
It was beset by scandal and intrigue
What were the allegations surrounding his election victory?
That there was Russian interference in the election
How many congressional committees investigated these allegations?
6
What did the reports published in 2018 and 2020 conclude?
That while there had been Russian interference in the election, there was no concrete evidence to link it to Trump
What was this report in agreement with?
The Mueller Report, conducted by the Justice Department in 2019
What was Trump the first president to have happen?
He was the first president to be impeached twice
What makes this especially extraordinary?
Because it happened despite the fact that he only served one term
What did his first impeachment in 2019-20 revolve around?
The allegation that he had tried to coerce the Ukranian government into revealing damaging information about Joe and Hunter Biden
What was Trump tried in the senate for?
Abuse of power and obstruction of congress
What was the result in the senate?
After a partisan trial the senate agreed to acquit Trump of both charges along party lines, although R Senator Mitt Romney voted guilty on the abuse of power charge
When was his second impeachment charge?
Jan 2021, just a week before he left office
What was this impeachment about?
The storming of Capitol Hill in Jan 2021, resulting in the death of a police officer and 5 of the rioters
What was Trump accused of?
The ‘incitement of insurrection’ after addressing a rally of supporters outside the WH earlier in the day
How was this the most bipartisan impeachment vote ever?
He was impeached by a vote of 232-197, with 10 House Rs joining 222 Ds
What happened in the senate a month later?
A five day trial was held and they voted 57-43 to impeach the president, but this fell short of the 2/3 majority required. Seven Rs joined all 50 Ds
What happened to the 7 R Senators who voted against Trump?
They all faced backlash from their state parties, with some being formally censured
