The President

Question 1

What are the formal powers of the president?

Answer 1

1. Legislative powers, including the ability to veto legislation
   E.g. Obama vetoed the restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015
   (providing him with powers to control the Congress and check the power of the legislature, ensuring they have to work with him to pass legislation)
2. The president can negotiate international treaties
   E.g. Bill Clinton negotiated the international agreement of the NAFTA free trade agreement in 1993
   (providing the president with significant power of foreign affairs as he can make treaties with other nations)
3. Nominating officials to executive branch, and nominating federal judges.
   E.g. Obama nominated Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor
   (allowing the President to alter the composition of the court into his favour)

Question 2

How has the President been weakened in recent years?

Answer 2

1. Post-Watergate action by Congress.
   E.g. the 1973 War Powers Act attempted to stop presidents from entering into military action without congressional approval
   (thus checking the President’s commander-in-chief military powers)
2. An increasingly partisan and divided Congress resulting in gridlock and government shutdowns
   E.g. congressional gridlock after 2010 prevented Obama from passing any meaningful gun legislation
   (making it very difficult for presidents to govern effectively during periods of divided government as it is difficult to pass legislation)
3. Divisions within the President’s party
   E.g. despite having a united government, Trump faced a brief government shutdown in February 2018 because of Republican Senator Rand Paul’s objections to the budget
   (preventing President Trump from relying on his own party’s support in Congress thus making it harder for him to pass the budget)

Question 3

What are three checks on the power of the president?

Answer 3

1. Congress can overturn presidential vetoes
   E.g. the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act 2016 was vetoed by Obama but overridden by Congress
   (allowing Congress to successfully check the president’s power of veto)
2. Congress can impeach the president
   E.g. Nixon was impeached in 1974 but resigned before almost certain conviction in the senate
   (The president is therefore directly accountable to the legislature as they can remove him from office)
3. The SCOTUS can strike down executive orders as unconstitutional
   E.g. in 2017 President Donald Trump tried to use an executive order to ban immigration from 11 middle eastern countries, and the court struck it down as unconstitutional as it violated the 1st amendment
   (thus upholding freedom of religion and protecting the rights of foreigners to enter the US)

Question 4

What are three differences between formal and informal presidential powers?

Answer 4

1. There is a significant difference between the informal power of negotiating executive agreements and the formal power of negotiating international treaties
   E.g. President Trump negotiated the USMCA in 2018, which has been effective since 2020. In contrast, in 1993 the Senate had to approval the international agreement of the NAFTA free trade agreement
   (Therefore, the informal powers of the President are more significant as they are not subject to congressional checks)
2. In contrast, the President’s formal power of being commander in chief is significantly different to their informal power to conduct missile strikes in a country without congressional approval. However, Presidents have been able to conduct military operations in the past without congressional approval
   E.g. in 2003 George W. Bush conducted a military operation in Iraq without congressional approval. (Therefore, even checks on formal powers can be bypassed)