the relationship between the president and other institutions

Question 1

describe the relationship between the president and the chief of staff:

Answer 1

-this relationship is crucial for the effective running of the executive branch
-they’re responsible for enacting the president’s agenda

Question 1

describe a successful CoS and president relationship:

Answer 1

-Emmanuel and Obama
-relationships between the presidency and other organisations were tightly organised, which allowed Obama’s administration to achieve some important policy successes e.g. affordable care act

Question 2

describe a not successful CoS and president relationship:

Answer 2

-Trump had a bad relationship with his CoS Reince Priebus
-Trump appointed a 4th CoS in less than 4 years
-this suggested instability within Trump’s administration

Question 3

describe the president’s approach to their wider staff:

Answer 3

-during every presidency, advisers try to access the president with the aim of increasing their own power and status
-the character of every administration is different
-Obama’s white house ran effectively, with a sense of purpose among the staff
-over 2 years in office Trump had left 280 administration positions vacant
-Trump would frequently sack officials, and advisers who didn’t agree with him were sacked/encouraged to resign which resulted in a staff that tended to unconditionally support his ideas, rather than challenging him when required

Question 4

describe the extent to which the president uses the EXOP to dominate the cabinet:

Answer 4

-some presidents appoint policy czars (equivalent to SpAds in UK)
-policy czars are government officials who are responsible for a particular area of policy
-e.g. Volcker was one of Obama’s economic czars, even though he already had a cabinet officer responsible for the economy
-policy czars may be given greater access to the president than cabinet officers
-Republicans criticised Obama for his use of policy czars, arguing they hadn’t been confirmed by senate so they were less subject to scrutiny

Question 5

describe the extent to which EXOP staff act as political operatives:

Answer 5

-the president’s advisers are political appointees, but should be able to speak truth to power, to help the president make the best decisions for the country
-but many EXOP staff act as primary political operatives rather than neutral assistants
-e.g. Kushner’s role as policy adviser was combined with his leadership of Trump’s failed 2020 re-election campaign

Question 6

describe the president’s view of federal agencies:

Answer 6

-some presidents aim to increase the size of the federal bureaucracy - these are usually democrats as they believe that the federal gov. can positively impact society
-e.g. Obama increased the number of federal employees by 8% during his tenure
-usually republican presidents tend to reduce the size of the federal gov. because they believe it takes away too much power from the states
-e..g. Trump famously promised to ‘drain the swamp’ in washington, and in 2018 he announced plans to abolish 22 gov. agencies (however congress didn’t approve this). he also in 2018 disbanded the pandemic response office set up by Obama which had disasterous consequences during COVID