Unit 3 - The Executive Flashcards
What are the 3 sources of presidential power? With definitions.
- Enumerated - granted to the President by article II of the Constitution or delegated by Congress
- Implied - implied by the text of the Constitution
- Inherent - not set out in the Constitution but needed by the president to carry out their constitutional role (informal)
What are the 11 formal powers of the president?
- Propose legislation
- Submit the annual budget
- Sign legislation
- Veto legislation
- Act as chief executive
- Nominate executive branch officials
- Nominate all federal judges
- Act as commander in chief
- Negotiate treaties
- Pardon
- Head of state
What does it mean by proposing legislation as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-can propose legislation in the State of Union Address
-Can propose legislation at any time by calling a press conference or making an announcement at a public event
-e.g. 2013 - Obama used State of Union Address to promote his policy proposals on job creation, deficit reeducation, immigration reform, gun control and increasing the federal minimum wage
What does it mean by submitting the annual budget as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-The most important piece of legislation
-The OMB (office of management and budget) draw up annual federal budget for the president - they are part of the EXOP
-President submits the budget to Congress - there is a lengthy debate between them especially if the government is divided
-e.g. 2020 – Trump’s budget took federal spending to a record $4.8 trillion
What is meant by signing legislation as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-Last stage in the legislative process
-Has 4 options but typically this is the most common option
-Done for bills the president wants to take credit for
-Bill signing ceremonies are held where the Reps and Senators who support the bill and those who may be affected by it
-e.g. 2010 - White House for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama invited the widow of the late Senator Edward Kennedy who made healthcare reform one of his ambitions as well as 11 year old Marcelas Owens who became an advocate for reform after his mother died without health insurance
What is meant by vetoing legislation as a formal power of the president? With examples.
-Regular veto is a weapon and the threat of it can be a bargaining tool
-Congress can try to override the veto but these are usually unsuccessful
-Pocket vetos can be used but can only be used at the end of the congressional session - cannot be overridden by Congress
-e.g. Bush and Trump only modern presidents to not use pocket vetoes, Use of regular vetoes has decreased in recent years with Trump using only 10 regular vetoes with only one being overridden by Congress
What is meant by acting as chief executive as a formal power of the president?
-In charge of running the executive branch of the government
-Day to day running is delegated to those who run the federal governments principal departments and agencies
-Modern presidents have needed the EXOP (a bureaucracy) to help coordinate the work of the federal government
What is meant by nominating executive branch officials as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-Nominates hundreds of officials to the executive branch
-The most important of these appointments are the heads of the 15 executive departments e.g. Treasury
-There are also lower level officials in all of these departments as well as ambassadors and agency heads
-Senate confirm all appointments by a simple majority
-e.g. November 2021 – Biden nominated Shalanda Young as director of the OMB after his initial nomination was rejected by the Senate
What is meant by nominating all federal judges as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-President fills vacancies not just on the federal Supreme Court but on the federal trial (district) and appeal (circuit) courts
-Judicial appointments are for life
-Confirmed by a simple majority in the senate
-e.g. Amy Coney Barrett 2020
What is meant by acting as commander in chief as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-Particularly important from the 1940s-80s
-Post Cold War era saw an end to the presidents commander in chief role
-1991-2001 brought no significant foreign policy engagement by a US president
-Congress has power to declare war but not used since 1941 - the president now asks to ‘authorise’ troops
-When the president travels away from the White House, they have a nuclear ‘football’ carried by a military officer so the president can have immediate access to the nuclear codes
-e.g. Trump ordered the death of terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and Obama ordered the murder of Osama bin laden
What is meant by negotiating treaties as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-The presidents seal of office has an eagle carrying arrows (CiC) and olive branch (peace)
-Modern presidents use the power to negotiate treaties e.g. the nuclear arms treaty with Russia under Obama
-Checked by senate who must ratify the treaty by 2-3ds majority
What is meant by pardon as a formal power of the president? With examples.
-Power of pardon - able to excuse someone for their crimes usually a political prisoner
-e.g. 2018 – Trump tweeted that he had the right to pardon himself
-e.g. 2021 – Trump pardoned his former advisor Steve Bannon who had been charged with fundraising fraud
-e.g. 2024 - Biden pardoned his son Hunter
-e.g. 2024 - Trump said he’d pardon the defendants of Jan 6th
What is meant by head of state as a formal power of the president? With an example.
-Clearly seen at times of national tragedy when the presidents becomes a comforter in chief or a mourner in chief
-Recently done by Obama following the killing of 20 children and 6 adults at sandy hook Elementary School in 2012
Circumvent
Avoid or go around
What are the 9 informal powers of the president
- Power to persuade
- Deal making
- Setting the agenda
- De facto party leader
- World leader
- Executive orders
- Signing statements
- Executive agreements
- Bureaucratic power
What is meant by power to persuade as an informal power of the president? With an example.
-Because power is split between the three branches and between the federal and state governments, to persuade is a key skill - limited with a divided gov
-Presidents use personal influence and the authority of their office to win support
-Use VP and lobbyists in the Office of Legislative Affairs to push agenda
-Presidential support scores = the number of votes in Congress on which a president took a positions and show the % the president won
-e.g. Obamas presidential support score was 96.7% in 2009 when the democrats controlled both houses, but after republicans won back the house, Obamas rating dropped to 57% in 2011 then to 45.6% when senate became republican
What is meant as deal making as an informal power of the president? With examples.
-Presidents need support of Congress to pass legislation - may make deals to achieve this
-May offer to support a policy that a legislature is championing, support them with election campaigning or deliver funding to their district
-During times of divided government, bipartisan deal making is important to avoid gridlock
-e.g. Trump made concessions to allow a $1.4 trillion spending bill to pass in 2019 to avoid a repeat of the government shutdown of 2018, First Step Act 2018 - reformed criminal justice - bipartisan
What is meant by setting the agenda as an informal power of the president? With examples.
-President determines what issues are discussed by journalists and the public
-They can shape public opinion by making speeches or statements that argue their position
-Trump used this power a lot by setting political agenda through controversial tweets, 2019 - Trump tweeted that 4 Democrats congresswomen of colour known as ‘The Squad’ including AOC should ‘go back and help fix the broken and crime infested’ countries they came from - said they were socialists, January 6th - claimed the election was stolen and to ‘fight like hell’ - blocked by Twitter and Facebook and impeached for incitement of insurrection
What is meant by de facto party leader as an informal power of the president? With an example.
-The head of their party - influence its membership - helpful if the presidents party controls both chambers - easier to convince to pass legislation
-Presidents control over legislation through congress is limited in a divided government - but even a president who has a trifecta may not receive unconditional support
-e.g. 2017 - Republicans controlled both houses but Trump wasnt able to convince the Congress to repeal Obamas affordable care Act 2010 even though it was Trumps main campaign pledge
What is meant by world leader as an informal power of the president? With examples.
-USA is most powerful liberal democracy and military superpower in history - ‘free world’
-US dominates global politics and institutions like the UN, NATO and the G7 - group of advanced economies
-Presidents may be less interested in this aspect of policy, particularly republicans with their view of isolationism
-e.g. Obama convinced nations to sign up to 2015 Paris agreement on climate change and 2015 Iran nuclear deal
-e.g. Trumps showed less interest in international leadership - withdraw from Paris agreement and Iran nuclear deal & sent mixed signals to NATO about US commitment - America first policy - started trade war with china
-e.g. During Covid, trump terminated USA’s relationship with the WHO
What is meant by executive orders as an informal power of the president? With examples.
-Official order made by the President directly to the federal government - has the effect of a law but can be easily reversed by the next president
-Article II implies this through executive power
-Roosevelt introduced popularity of executive order and holds the record of 3,721 issued
-e.g. Obama relied on executive orders after he became annoyed with Congress’s rejection of his agenda, executive orders were an alternative to legislation - increased federal minimum wage
-e.g. Trump criticised this use of executive powers but signed more executive powers in his first 3 years than Obama did over the period of his presidency
What is meant by signing statements as an informal power of the president? With an example.
-Presidents can sign statements when they sign a bill into law but wish to comment on it
-President may make a positive comment or argue that aspects of the bill are unconstitutional and that their government wont enforce them
-Signing statements is controversial as they can be used to achieve a line item veto - allowed to veto a potion of the bill but was unconstitutional by Supreme Court in 1996
-Can also be used to criticise legislation
-e.g. Trump used a signing statement to criticise a 2017 consolidation appropriation act imposing sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea claiming it affected his constitutional powers to conduct foreign policy - objected 50 provisions
What is meant by executive agreements as an informal power of the president? With an example.
-An agreement made between the US and an international government
-Signed by the president and don’t require senate ratification as a treaty would
-Use this to avoid lengthy and potential unproductive negotiations with senators that happens with treaties (require two thirds majority)
-Number of executive agreements increased since WWII
-President criticised for this power
-e.g. Trump withdrawing from Obamas 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
What is meant by bureaucratic power as an informal power of the president? With an example.
-The Executive Office of the President - EXOP is collection of offices providing policy advice and administrative support to the President
-Helps president run the federal government, develop policy, communicate with the public and congress and negotiate trade deal
-e.g. Set up by Roosevelt and expanded the power of the presidency a lot and particularly how he expanded the power