US Government; The Executive - Powers, Relationships Flashcards

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1
Q

Formal - The power to propose legislation

A
  • Section III of Article II of the Constitution gives the president the power to propose legislation to Congress. However, only presidents rarely did so: George Washington only proposed three laws to Congress/
    Joe Biden
  • Joe Biden believes that there’s no greater economic engine in the world than the hard work and ingenuity of the American people. But for too long, the economy has worked great for those at the top, while working families continually get squeezed. President Biden promised to rebuild the backbone of the country – the middle class – so that this time everyone comes along. He also campaigned on a promise to make government work for working people again.
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2
Q

Formal - The power to submit the annual budget

A
  • The president also has the power of preparing the annual federal budget. This crucial piece of legislation sets out how much money the federal government will spend over the coming year. In reality, the president does not personally write the budget, as it is hundreds of pages long. Instead, the president’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) writes the budget in their direction. However, the president does not have the power to pass the budget - the ‘power of the purse’ belongs to Congress.
  • In February 2020, Trump’s budget for the coming year took government spending to a record $4.8 trillion, even before the economic costs of COVID-19 were clear.
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3
Q

Formal - The power to sign legislation

A
  • Once a bill has successfully been passed through the legislative process in Congress the president has the option of using one of their three further powers. First, the president has the power to sign the bill into law. When the president does that, the bill becomes an Act of Congress - part of US law. The president’s second option is not to sign the bill but to, as it were, ‘leave it on the desk’ for it to become law after 10 working days without signature.
  • The president might use this option for minor pieces of legislation or for those they do not agree with but would be unable to prevent Congress passing. if the congressional session ends during these 10 working days, the bill is lost. This is known as a pocket veto.
  • Bill Clinton in 2000 - pocket veto
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4
Q

Formal - The power to veto legislation

A
  • The third option the president has at this stage is to veto a bill. The president does this by sending the bill back to Congress with a message explaining his reasons for vetoing the bill. Congress does have the power to override a presidential veto but this is very difficult to achieve because a two thirds majority is needed in both houses of Congress. Because it’s so difficult to override the president’s veto, the president can use the threat of a veto during the legislative process to pressure Congress to make changes to a bill that the president wants.
  • This is known as ‘veto signalling’ and is done by a Statement of Administration Policy, which they White House releases to communicate the president’s views of a bill to Congress.
  • Trump used the veto 10 times, two of which were to block legislation that would have ended the state of national emergency at the southwestern US border. Trump has declared a state of emergency in February 2019 to allow him to use federal funds to build the border wall promised in his presidential campaign. Congress had previously refused to fund the wall and twice voted to terminate the state of emergency.
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5
Q

Formal - The power to act as Chief Executive

A
  • The President needs certain powers, known as inherent powers, which are not linked to specific powers mentioned in the Constitution
  • These powers are instead inherent to the overall role of the President in the Constitution
  • Control federal bureaucracy, which is made up of 15 departments each with different responsibilities
  • After the 9/11 terror attacks, George Bush’s administration argued that the president’s inherent powers gave him the authority to ignore civil liberties and anti-torture laws, ordering the detention of terrorist suspects or an indefinite period, transporting them overseas bases of interrogation and torture, in a practice known as ‘extraordinary rendition’, Bush was widely criticised for interpreting the idea of inherent powers too loosely in order to increase his own power
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6
Q

Formal - The power to nominate executive branch officials

A
  • When a new President nominates officials to key posts
  • There are around 4,000 positions to fill with appointments, with 700 being confirmed by the Senate by a simple majority vote
    Heads of executive departments, heads of independent federal agencies and US ambassadors all require Senate confirmation
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2020/biden-appointee-tracker/
  • Joe Biden has currently picked 461 nominees (January 2022) to fill his administration, which is slower than Obama, due to other crisis’ that are more important for Congress to sort
  • This shows how miniscule this power is in comparison to other roles, and his appointment is a slow process that is not a priority due to the amount of appointments needed to be confirmed
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7
Q

Formal - The power to nominate all federal judges

A
  • This happens when vacancies arise
  • The Senate again provides a check on the appointment power of the President as it is confirmation via a simple majority vote is required for judicial nominees
  • Unlike executive branch positions, which are political appointments that end with each incoming President, judges are for life, and the impact of a judicial appointment continues long after, in both their decisions and political alignment
  • SC justices determine how the Constitution is interpreted and so their appointment is one of the most important powers of the presidency
  • An example of this is the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the SC in September 2020, and she was later confirmed in October 2020 by Donald Trump following the death of Ruth-Bader Ginsburg
  • This had an impact on the political weighting of the court, creating a Republican majority
    Obama’s nominee for the SC was blocked, as the Republican House wished to wait for the new President to make a nomination, due to their expectation that Trump would win
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8
Q

Formal - The power to act as Commander in Chief

A
  • Overall head of the armed forces allowing him to initiate military action
  • Constitutionally, only Congress should have the power to declare war but this hasn’t been used since 1941
  • Some presidents have acted without presidential approval
  • Also have the ability to use nuclear weapons
  • Out of the US they are with a military officer carrying a ‘nuclear football’ containing nuclear codes and guidance
    Bush ordered the US invasion of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003)
  • Clinton sending US troops into Kosovo in the 90s without approval
  • Obama ordered military intervention in Libya in 2011
  • Harry Truman ordered 2 nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945
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9
Q

Formal - The power to negotiate treaties

A
  • President can come up with treaties and have discussions with others about it but does not have the power to put it in place fully
  • Treaties must be ratified by the Senate with a ⅔ supermajority
  • HofR has the power of the purse
  • Obama signed an arms treaty with Russia in 2010 which cut US and Russian strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 over 7 years (2,200 allowed then)
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10
Q

Formal - The power to grant pardons

A
  • Can pardon anyone who has been convicted of a federal crime
  • Exception of impeachment
  • Can be given after the convicted person has died
  • Can give a pre-emptive pardon for crimes already committed that a person may be convicted for
  • Can also release a prisoner but this does not give them a formal pardon
  • Trump pardoned AA boxer Jack Johnson in 2019 for a 1913 offence of crossing state lines with a white woman
  • Clinton granted 140 pardons on his final day of office which was very controversial
  • Pardoned his own brother for a drug offence and also wealthy supporters
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11
Q

Formal - The power to be Head of State

A
  • Appoint ambassadors and has emergency powers
  • In charge of diplomatic relations, negotiating treaties and controlling the army
  • He is also head of government
  • He also has the power to issue pardons
  • Although he is not exclusively named head of state, these powers are normally carried out by a head of state
  • For example, Trump issued a total of 143 pardons, 116 of which were done in January 2021 before Biden’s insurrection
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12
Q

What are enumerated, implied and inherent powers?

A

Enumerated -
- These are explicitly granted in the constitution in Article 2, or delegated to the president by Congress

Implied -
- These are implied by the text of the Constitution

Inherent -
- These are not set out in the constitution but are needed by the President to carry out their constitutional role as head of the executive. Unlike implied powers, inherent powers are not linked to a specific power mentioned in the constitution, but rather they are inherent to the overall role of the President described in the Constitution

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13
Q

What are informal presidential powers?

A
  • These refer to the powers of the president that are not explicitly stated in the constitution or any of the legislative history - they are conventions on what the president can do and what the president can decide to do, notably in emergency
  • They are powers implied and assumed by the president
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14
Q

What is an electoral mandate?

A
  • This refers to the duty the president has to the country to work for them as they have been elected as their representative
  • They have been approved to act as they said they would during their time in office
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15
Q

The informal powers of the president

A
  • Public mandates
  • Personal exercise of power
  • Emergency powers - being able to use force, even if war is not declared by Congress
  • Can make Executive agreements - not formal treaties to bypass the ratification of the Senate, becoming valid with a majority in both houses, making them easier to pass (NAFTA)
  • To enforce the direction of agencies; they make appointments to further their political agenda, and so direct them
  • Can make recommendations for laws - legislative initiative where Congress can refine the ideas that he wants to pass
  • Can impound funds for projects - anything they do not want to happen they can negate funds from
  • Pass executive orders
  • Executive privilege - ability to keep information a secret (can be overturned by a court order)
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16
Q

Factors that affect the success of the president

A
  1. Electoral mandate - Although Trump won the electoral college in a landslide, he lost the popular vote, and so despite having technical approval, the American people may not all back his messages, making some of his policies negative; Congress is the so-called ‘bad guy’ if the legislation proposed is ignored as the President has been given electoral permission to carry out his agenda
  2. Public approval - if the President is unable to pass policy favourable, he will not be re-elected, which is very damaging politically and without public approval he will give his opponents the ammunition to be voted in instead - amore adaptive president
  3. First / second term / lame duck - the changing nature of Congress means a majority can be quickly lost, and if the President has done badly legislatively and been unsuccessful, they may lose majority and therefore the President will be limited by a split Congress, complicating the process
  4. Unified / divided government - more success when legislation can easily be put through Congress and checks are not as strong, but the opposite occurs with divided government
  5. Crises - they have to act quickly, but this opens them to criticism - if an emergency decision proves to be wrong in the long term, this decreases public approval and election is endangered
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17
Q

The political context of President Bill Clinton (1992 & 1996)

A
Mandate - Election Results 1992
- 43% votes (low)
- 370 in EC
House of Representatives Composition - 1992
- 267 - Dems
- 167 – GOP
- 1 Ind
Senate Composition - 1992
- 57 Democrats
- 43 GOP
Main Issues in 1992 -
- Health care reform
- Midterm setback: GOP revolution
Mandate - Election Results 1996
- 49.2% of vote (low) 
- 379 EC
House of Representatives Composition - 1992
- 230 GOP
- 204 Dems
- 1 Ind
Senate Composition - 1996
- 53 GOP
- 47 Dems
Main Issues in 1996 - 
- Improving international relations 
- Finance 
- Expanding infrastructure and healthcare
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18
Q

The political context of President George Bush (2000 & 2004)

A
Mandate - Election Results 2000
- 271 EC
- 47.9% 
House of Representatives Composition - 2000
- 211 Dems
- 223 GOP
Senate Composition - 2000
- 50 Dems
- 50 GOP
Main Issues - 2000
- Iraq War 
- 9/11 Attacks 
Mandate - Election Results - 2004
- 286 EC
- 50.7% of the popular vote 
House of Representatives Composition - 2004
- 204 Dems
- 229 GOP
- 1 Ind
Senate Composition - 2004
- 48 Dems
- 51 GOP
- 1 Ind 
Main Issues - 2004
- Iraq War
- Economic focus - Subprime loans
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19
Q

The political context of President Barack Obama (2008 & 2012)

A
Mandate - Election Results 2008
- 53.9% of the popular vote 
- 365 EC
House of Representatives - 2008
- 233 Dems 
- 202 GOP
Senate - 2008
- 44 Dems
- 55 GOP
- 1 Ind
Main Issues - 2008
- Universal healthcare 
- Financial Crash 
Mandate - Election Results 2012
- 51.5% of the popular vote 
- 332 EC 
House of Representatives - 2012
- 235 - Dems
- 198 - GOP
- 2 Ind
Senate - 2012
- 48 Dems
- 49 GOP
- 2 Ind 
Main Issues - 2012
- Gun control 
- Obamacare
- Same-sex marriage
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20
Q

The political context of President Donald Trump (2016)

A
Mandate - Election Results 2016
- 304 EC
- 46.1% of popular vote 
House of Representatives - 2016 
- 241 Dems
- 194 GOP
Senate - 2016
- 45 Dems
- 52 GOP
- 2 Ind
Main Issues - 2016
- The border wall with Mexico / Immigration 
- Repealing Obamacare
- Getting troops out of Afghanistan
- Taxes 
- Civil / domestic unrest with rights
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21
Q

What are executive orders?

A
  • Executive orders are directives issued by the president. Although not specifically mentioned in the constitution, they are justified by the president’s constitutional power to ‘take care that all laws are faithfully executed’ and, despite some restrictions they have the full force of law.
  • They became controversial when they are used to bypass Congress, and some presidents have stretched the scope of executive orders to create wide-ranging laws without congressional approval.
  • For example, in 1941, President Franklin D.Roosevelt used Executive Order 8802 to ban racial discrimination in companies bidding for government contracts. President Lyndon B. Johnson used executive order 11246 to require affirmative action to ensure equal treatment for racial minorities.
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22
Q

Why are Executive Orders a powerful presidential tool?

A
  • Executive orders are a powerful tool for US Presidents as they allow them to bypass the legislative process which is a long and cumbersome process, making them effective in times of crisis, emergency or when a law urgently needs to be passed, especially over controversial issues. It also allows the President to have some legislative power and to enact their preferred policy / mandate on issues they wish to solve and programmes they wish to implement.
  • An example of a powerful executive order is the abolishment of racial segregation by Harry S Truman, EO 9981, and the Keystone pipeline protection provided by a Biden EO that allows a step towards tackling the climate crisis.
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23
Q

What are the limitations on this power?

A
  • Congress is able to veto this power
  • Presidents are able to easily repeal orders made by their predecessors, meaning it can just become a political ping-pong of introducing and repealing the same orders, as they are not entrenched
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24
Q

The relationship to the Cabinet

A
  • The cabinet has existed since 1793 and is formed today of the head of the 15 departments of government, plus others that the president wishes to include
  • Obama included the head of the Environment Protection Agency, the head of the Council of Economic Advisors, the UN Ambassador and the US Trade Representative-all of these speak to his personal beliefs or the issues he was facing in his presidency
  • They are policy specialists and usually give advice on their specific department as opposed to general political advice
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25
Q

Who becomes a member of the cabinet?

A

Cabinet members come from the following variety of backgrounds

  1. Former politicians; Hilary Clinton for example served as Obama’s secretary of State from 2009-2013, with Clinton having an exceptionally broad range of political experience due to being a former First Lady and Senator, and she also provided unity between the different factors of the Democratic party after she lost the 2008 presidential nomination to Obama
  2. Academics; Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu was appointed secretary of energy by Obama
  3. Experts in their respective fields; Steven Munchin was secretary of the treasury during Trump’s presidency, having been a hedge fund manager and investment banker previously
  4. Military officers; Biden appointed retired general Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense in 2021
  5. Lobbyists; Trump was criticised following his appointment of former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018
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26
Q

Why is the cabinet composed the way it is?

A
  • The makeup of a cabinet generally reflects the experience and perspective of the President, such as Bush appointing large numbers of business experts and CEOs to hs cabinet, but Obama choosing a highly academic cabinet with ⅔ of officers having attended an Ivy League University due to his teaching background
  • Trump famously appointed more lobbyists and officers who had ‘made a fortune’ to his cabinet, with Biden promising to make his the ‘most diverse in history’ appointing the first African-American defense secretary, first female treasury secretary and the first openly gay cabinet officer
  • The Constitution gives the cabinet sole executive authority, and so the members work for the President who does not have to take their advice; they are selected to be advisors on presidential policy and be loyal to the president
  • Some have greater influence than others, possibly due to their public profile or a close political relationship with the President
  • However, all serve at the discretion of the President and can be dismissed if the president is not satisfied by their performance, such as Trump sacking his secretary of state via Twitter in 2018
  • Trump notably enjoyed ‘acting’ cabinet members as it gave him more flexibility of ideas
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27
Q

What are cabinet meetings?

A
  • Cabinet meetings are chaired by the president, meeting typically a few times a year, and the president will have individual meetings with cabinet officers, with the frequency of formal meetings depending on the wishes of the president - Obama often used his meetings to brief cabinet members in person and hearing their thoughts as they are not a forum for collective decision making like they are in the UK
  • Meetings become less frequent as presidential terms continue, because they do not need their advice specifically; less political experience often correlates to more frequent meetings
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28
Q

Why are cabinets selected the way they are?

A
  • Trump - this is a cabinet that reflects his political beliefs and represents a vast range of Republican opinions; many were ‘acting’ members due Trump’s desire for flexibility and the ability to fire people how he saw fit, or who disagreed with his policy - many of these people were funders of his campaign and those of a conservative background
  • Biden, in contrast, has chosen a more democratic cabinet to represent his democratic persuasions, however he also sought to represent people as well as opinions, creating a much more politically and biologically/physically diverse cabinet, in order to appeal to those groups who voted for him and appeal to the new age of American society, hoping to create policy for all, not just his own opinions; many are former politicians, have a broad range of experience and are experts in their fields/academics, vastly different to the lobbyist and conservative cabinet of Trump
  • Some of his selections will have also been made to encourage unity in the Democratic party
  • Secretary of State = Foreign Secretary; chief diplomat, and an incredibly important position, often used to promote unity during presidential nominations
Qualities of cabinet members:
Politically inclined to the President 
Experts in their field / empathetic 
Representative of their expertise / passionate of their position
Advisory in their role / wise, political or apolitical when needed
Trustworthiness
Appealing to certain minorities
Money
29
Q

The cabinet of Donald Trump

A
  1. White House Chief of Staff - Mick Mulvaney (current - Ron Klain)
  2. Vice President - Mike Pence (current - Kamala Harris)
  3. Secretary of State - Mike Pompeo (current - Anthony Blinken)
  4. Treasury Secretary - Steven Munchin (current - Dr Janet Yellen)
  5. Defence Secretary - Christopher C. Miller (current - Lloyd Austin)
  6. Homeland Security - Pete Graynor (current - Alejandro Mayorkas)
  7. Attorney- General - Jeffrey A. Rosen (current - Merrick Garland)
  8. CIA Director - Gina Haspel (current - William Burns)
  9. Secretary of Education - Mick Zais (current - Dr Miguel Cardona)
  10. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development - Ben Carson (current - Marcia Fudge)

Cabinet of Donald Trump - Wikipedia
The Cabinet | The White House

30
Q

The Executive Office of the President

A
  • The EXOP is a group of offices that support the president in running the federal government, including the White House Office, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Vice President
  • It was originally established by FDR as the federal government grew in response to the Great Depression, as a bureaucracy was needed to run the executive branch; the EXOP employs 3,000-4,000 staff, headed by the White House Chief of Staff (most senior advisor)
  • They are the main advisors of the President, and aid in the formation of policy, as well as helping to carry out many federal government functions as presidential delegations - more important than Cabinet ministers, as they carry out executive policy and are more similar to the UK cabinet
31
Q

The White House Office

A
  • 400 members in 2019
  • Works most closely with the President, including a collection of offices such as the those of the Chief of Staff, Legislative Affairs, Cabinet Affairs, Communications and the National Security Adviser
  • Based in the West Wing of the White House, which is considered the heart of presidential affairs, with appointments to this office exclusively done at the President’s discretion and so do not need Senate approval (exclusive Executive power, means the president has complete control of his closest advisors)
  • The White House Chief of Staff decides who has access to the president and this determines the balance of opinions the president receives, and they see the President more often
32
Q

National Security Council

A
  • This is the President’s main forum for discussing and managing national security and foreign policy issues, chaired by the President and members including the VP, secretary of state, treasury, defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, acting as military advisors also
  • They coordinate national security and foreign policy within the executive branch and all its agencies, including US military forces around the world
  • Run in the secure Situation Room in the basement of the White House, where the President and national security team coordinate and manage the US response to domestic and international crises
  • Example - Obama watched Osama bin Laden’s assassination from the Situation Room
  • It is a way for the President to carry out one of his most significant roles as Commander in Chief of the military
    National Security Advisor under Biden - Jake Sullivan; most important as he controls the information fed to the President and is apolitical, acting as a sieve for all the advice of the experts
33
Q

The structure of the US National Security Council

A

The structure of the US National Security Council

  • Chairman; President Joe Biden
  • Statutory attendees; Vice President Kamala Harris,
  • Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen
  • Military advisor - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A Milley
  • Intelligence Advisor - Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines
  • Drug Policy Advisor - Director of National Drug Control Policy Rahal Gupta
  • Regular Attendees - National Security Advisor, Deputy National Security Advisor, Homeland Security Advisor, Attorney General, White House Chief of Staff
  • Additional Participants - Secretary of Homeland Security, White House Counsel, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Ambassador to the UN, US Trade Representative, Director of Office of Management and Budget and the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
34
Q

Trump and the EXOP

A

Trump chose to fire the entirety of Obama’s EXOP and replace them, as he was more concerned with erasing Obama’s presidency that effectively running the government both home and abroad - Biden has not done so

  • Trump removed Michael Flynn, the National Security Advisor, Senior Director of Africa Robin Townley, Chief of Staff Keith Kellogg, Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland and Senior Intelligence Director Ezra Cohen Watnick. Four National Security Advisors, 3 chiefs of staff and Executive Secretaries, 3 Senior Directors of Africa and the Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism Advisors. Keith Kellogg was reinstated as VP Mike Pence’s National Security Advisor after being Acting National Security Advisor for a period of time.
  • This creates instability and inconsistency in opinion, therefore complicating formation of policy, with no time given for them to learn their role, and they cannot do things in the way they wanted to
  • It also caused a large amount of resignation in lower departments, as replacements want to instigate their own offices, causing a huge turnover and no policy can be made because too much time is being spent on appointment
  • This is dangerous, because they aren’t getting anything done and so will not be popular and are not equipped to deal with national issues
35
Q

The Office of Management and Budget

A

The Office of Management and Budget has five main functions
- Budget development and execution
- Management, including oversight of agency performance, procurement, financial management and information technology
- Coordination and review of significant Federal regulations from executive agencies, privacy policy, information policy, and review and assessment of information collection requests
- Clearance and coordination of legislative and other materials, such as agency testimony, legislative proposals, Congressional communications and coordination of other Presidential actions
- Clearance of Presidential Executive Orders and memoranda to agency heads before they are issued
The current Director of the Office of Management and Budget is Shalanda D. Young.

36
Q

Relationship to Congress

A
  • Linked by the Constitutional system of checks and balances
  • Richard Neustadt thus remarked that ‘the president’s power is the power to persuade’ – that is, the president is only as powerful as his ability to convince Congress to work with him/her.
  • Other factors that affect the relationship - Congress being controlled by a different political party as there is no guarantee that the president’s party would work with him/her either.
37
Q

Accountability to Congress

A
  • Once a year he deliverers a State of the Union Address to Congress, (the first to do in person was Woodrow Wilson) though this is a set piece outlining his priorities for the year, not an opportunity for grilling by Congressmen.
  • Senate and house committees can schedule public hearings to investigate perceived failings by the executive branch
  • Either house can establish a Select Committee specifically to investigate an issue.
  • In the most serious cases, such as the Watergate scandal which led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, the House of Representatives and Senate can establish a joint committee.
  • Ultimately, Congress can impeach the president.
  • Presidential Accountability - Unlike the British prime minister, the US president is not obliged to subject himself to half an hour of hostile questioning from members of the legislature every week, but there are other ways in which Congress can hold him to account.
38
Q

Why do presidents resort to the power to persuade?

A
  • Because power is shared between the three branches of government and between the states and federal government, persuasion is key to an effective presidency, and they compete with numerous ‘actors’ to create public policy - he therefore relies on his informational ability to convince other ‘political actors’ it is in their interest to do so
  • However, the president’s power to persuade can be severely constrained by the extent of their control over Congress, with the presidential support score consisting of the total number of votes in Congress, on which the president took a position
  • For example, Obama enjoyed a presidential score of 96.7% in 2009, when the Democrats enjoyed both houses of Congress, but in times of divided government presidential support generally drops
  • It is needed to promote his legislative agenda and prevent severe scrutiny / blockage on policy - in order to get policy entrenched, congressional support is vital
    Congress may be split - persuasion is a way of unification of ideas to gain majorities and to hold members to party lines and to persuade individual opinion to support his agendas
39
Q

How does the president use other people and perks to persuade?

A
  • Presidents use personal influence, the authority of their office and political capital to win support from key political figures along with the support of their Vice President, cabinet officers and lobbyists in the Office of Legislative Affairs to push forward their agenda with members of Congress
  • He needs leaders of groups within the Houses to drive their members into order and to create majorities of support to drive legislation
  • The President may offer promotions, funding, support for state policy (which would boost its chances of success) or other rewards of political nature to help persuade people to help and support him, which is a tactic used in a time of divided government to help win majorities in order to promote his legislative agenda
  • In re-election, senators may want a presidential seal of approval and so President’s can use this perk to gain support for their policy
40
Q

Case Study - Obama and the ACA; power of persuasion

A
  • He spent months in 2009 persuading Republican Senators to support his ACA plan, with only one senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, voting for the bill in the Finance Committee
  • By the time it came to the floor, partisan divisions were at their worst and the Republican leader insisted on lockstep GOP opposition to the bill, and even Snowe ultimately voted against the bill
  • He used lobbyists and other Democratic congressional leaders to use use every procedural tool available to pass the bill, and the White House agreed to make changes to the bill on its return to the House in the budget reconciliation process, allowing him to pass it even with a simple majority as he had Democratic control, and so his persuasion was not successful he kept the bill the same and used the system to his advantage to use his control of Congress to successfully implement the ACA
41
Q

Is the President able to do what he wants?

A
  • Theory of Imperial Presidency - Arthur Schlesigner’s; suggested that the president has been able to exercise too much political power
  • Theory of Dual Presidency - Aaron Wildvsky’s; suggested that president is able to exercise authority in some areas but it is severely limited in others
42
Q

How powerful is the president?

A
  • The president has become infinitely more power, as president comes from the word presider - there was no inference that the president would become the main decider, but he has become the main aspect of the executive branch and power of government and the executive branch has expanded massively
  • This is contrary to the constitution, which intended Congress to be the main decider - this may be due to the practicality of the Executive compared to the effectiveness of Congress
  • Executive branch has taken many of the powers of Congress, which can be due to both Congress giving away power and President’s lobbying for more (Creative federalism?)
  • Grand Canyon - President Roosevelt was able to install it as a national monument as part of Executive Orders because of the natural zinc resources
  • Civil war - Presidents grab more power in these cases due to a need for more power
  • These have increased Presidential power and increased approval ratings to become a country of Presidential power - approval ratings increased from 20% to 40-50%
43
Q

How powerful is the President cont.?

A
  • The role of the US is much larger in foreign and domestic affairs, and Congress delegating powers to the President and roles is helpful to governmental efficiency, but there is still a degree of a gap between expectations of what a President can achieve and what they can actually do - this for both public opinion and presidents themselves
  • Some of these powers include ability to declare wars, sign treaties and act as a foreign diplomat and much of foreign policy is executive driven - they no longer need Congressional approval to go to war; they also can have an influence on tax, and the government needs to be able to expand in order to accommodate for a growing modern society
  • In areas such as policing, education and other infrastructure areas, they are rapidly growing, and so more power and a larger government is needed
    In the 1960s, many Presidents’ make promises to secure more power
  • National Emergencies Act 1976 gave the President far reaching emergency powers and also allowed Congress to review these powers and emergencies and remove them where necessary, and the President abuses this role and Congress fails to check the president regularly
    Trump made a big political move; Congress is supposed to have the power of the purse, and Trump is attempting to hijack this power to
  • Watergate regime fallout - the President is attempting to push into the foreign, domestic and legislative powers, and much of what Congress does is attempting to reign back executive power but Presidents are still attempting to gain more
  • It is negative when Congress hands over power that is enumerated and their authority in the Constitution thoughtlessly
44
Q

The Imperial Presidency

A
  • This theory was based on how the Presidential accumulation of domestic power during wartimes to accretion of domestic power meant that the executive branch was exceeding its constitutional limits
  • The Constitution and its authors determined that the power to initiate a war belonged to Congress, with the President having the responsibilities to conduct ongoing wars and foreign relations and to respond to sudden attacks if Congress were not in session
  • As the US became a great world power and then a superpower, the president acquired more war powers despite the Constitution, and that reduced Congress’ powers and the separation of powers, which is necessary to avoid arbitrary use of power
  • Richard Nixon - 1973
  • Criticisms; the amount of executive control post-Nixon including accountability and budget offices were reduced and there is no institutional continuity in federal agencies as they change with each president (there is no guarantee that what the president asks for they will do, and they can prevent themselves from doing tasks for presidents they do not align with)
45
Q

Examples of Presidential Power

A

Executive Orders

  • An executive order is an implied power which refers to written orders issued by the president to the federal government which does not require presidential approval
  • An example of this ranges from dramatic reverses of policy to ordinary business - this ranges from approval for the construction of two bitterly contested oil pipelines by Trump to Obama’s instructions on half-day closing for government departments on Christmas Eve 2015 or Biden’s signing of an EO to make sexual harassment an offence in the military judicial code
  • Authority for issuing these orders is rooted in Article II of the Constitution
  • Limits - can be easily repealed, are able to be passed through Congress quickly but can be blocked by the court, there can be Congressional and public outcry, and they have to work within the confines of the law

Signing Statements

  • This is a written pronouncement issued on signing a bill into law
  • President Reagan issued a total of 250 signing statements
  • Congress could insist on the laws that are passed and can ignore the President, effectively making it a ceremonial power
46
Q

Examples of Presidential power pt2

A

Executive Agreements

  • An agreement between the President and a foreign country that acts as a treaty whilst bypassing the treaty ratification process of Congress and therefore makes foreign policy not needed to be ratified and under the jurisdiction of the executive office
  • An example of this is when the legally binding Nuclear Arms terms with Iran were signed without seeking congressional approval by Obama in 2015
  • The limits on executive agreements - Congress can still remove funding

Commander in chief / Unilateral war power

  • This is the power of the President to make all major military decisions and to declare emergency military action both domestically and in foreign areas, including a now implied power to declare war, delegated from the Congressional enumerated power of the same nature
  • An example of this is both the Vietnam War in the 1970s and the Iraq War conducted by Bush in 2003
  • Limits on this power include the ability of Congress to withdraw funding for laws, effectively undeclaring the war
47
Q

The Vice President - how they were chosen

A
  • Vice Presidents were originally chosen based on them coming second in the electoral college vote and race, and was originally more of a ‘president in waiting’ role, with many of the first Vice Presidents going on to become President
  • John Adams, the first VP, became President after Washington, and Jefferson followed Adams - in the case of Adams and Jefferson, they were of two different parties (Federalist and Democratic-Republicans respectively) which allowed full representation of opinion and direct party collaboration, but also caused heavy political conflict in the Executive, a branch that needs to be stable in nature
  • By contrast, there was also the issue that in the 1800 election Burr and Jefferson, who were of the same party, got an equal number of electoral college votes, resulting in 36 further votes in the House of Representatives to choose a candidate - this system was therefore creating conflict and taking too long to make a decision
48
Q

The Vice President - 12th Amendment

A

This changed the way the VP was selected; it became two separate votes, one for President and one for VP, where they ran a joint ticket
- This led to a process of ‘balancing the ticket’ where Presidents would select a VP candidate who were politically different, represented different populations and could act as a way of appealing to voters the potential President couldn’t to expand the voter database

49
Q

Why have their been vacancies in the vice presidency?

A

Once the election is over, the old role of the VP was essentially insignificant - they had many ceremonial roles but were mostly a president in waiting, and so many people turned down the role because they believed it to be fatal for their career development
- Furthermore, throughout most of the 19th century, there was no way to replace the VP if it was vacant during a Presidential term, and so it remained empty

50
Q

What did the 25th amendment do for the Vice Presidency?

A
  • It allowed Presidents to nominate a replacement VP in the case of vacancy, as long as they were confirmed by a majority in both houses
  • An example of this was during Nixon’s presidency, when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973, before Nixon himself resigned in 1974 over the watergate scandal, by which he was replaced by new VP Gerald Ford, who was then able to select a new VP whilst he was President
51
Q

What are the main powers of the VP?

A
  • President of the Senate - however, this role is actually fulfilled by a President pro-tempore, who presides over the Senate and usually the longest serving member of the Senate
  • Have the tie-breaking vote in the Senate - there have been 244 occasions of this power by 35 different VPs, the most notable being Dick Cheney during Bush’s presidency
  • The responsibility of counting and announcing the results of the electoral college vote
  • To take over the role of president upon their vacancy - however, this is a slightly vague power, and the first precedent for it occurred in 1841 when William Henry Harris died on his 32nd day in office - his VP John Tyler decided that he had the power to take over the role, and this established a precedent and this power
  • The 25th amendment also allows the VP to becoming an Acting president if the President submits a written admission to Congress stating that they will be unable to discharge their role
  • For example - Biden and Bush’s medical procedures in 2021, 2007 and 2004 saw their VPs temporarily assume the powers of the president for the duration of the surgeries
52
Q

John Adams - ‘In this I am nothing, but I may be everything’

A
  • Essentially, the VP is insignificant and ceremonial - but they are an important safety net for the executive, and if the President dies, they suddenly have even more power than they could ever hope to have
53
Q

How have national security issues affected the status of the vice presidency?

A
  • In WW2, Harry Truman had to assume the Presidency following the death of FDR - however, he knew little of foreign policy matters and was not aware of White House business, leading to him to have to scramble to learn about the military’s status, the nuclear weaponry and the foreign relations with the Soviet Union
  • It became clear that the VP needed to be involved in all security and foreign issues as well as domestic ones, otherwise the Executive would be void of experience and knowledge in their role if a Presidency became vacant
  • This modernised the VP, allowing it to become more significant politically as a vital and informed advisor to the President
54
Q

How has the expansion of the federal government lead to a more important role for the VP?

A
  • After the growth of the federal government to assume more state powers with the introduction of New Federalism in the 1960s, the President has more need to delegate roles
  • Executive departments expanded from 3 to 15 - the President does not have the time to execute this many roles to a precise level, and so the VP has grown in importance with helping to lead on these issues and oversee key departments they have expertise or interest in - this helps the President have control over the Executive by having a delegate
  • This gives issues the time and authority needed to solve them effectively
55
Q

How has the growing international role of America created a more active VP?

A
  • As America grew into an international power, there was a need for greater diplomacy and foreign relation upholding
  • Foreign relations have grown in complexity and importance, and the President is not able to attend all relation requirements; this makes the VP to preserving international relations, with them attending many diplomacy roles to help the President fulfil his roles
  • Obama, for example, wanted a more collaborative relationship with his VP, and his employment of Biden, a previous foreign secretary was helpful to this role - he made 8 trips to Iraq between 2009-12 for diplomacy and peace-making during the conflict there
56
Q

The selection of the VP

A
  • Outsiders - this is a disadvantage, as they do not have the Senatorial relationships or experience, making them useful as functional whips and unifiers in the Senate
  • Selecting a Congressman is more advantageous to give the Executive experience, relationships and an ability to unite the Senate
  • Dick Cheney, one of the most influential VPs, had an office directly adjacent to the floor of the House and Senate so he could discuss with them before key votes to vote for the legislation proposed by Bush and transmit presidential opinion
  • Cheney was key to Bush’s presidency due to how experienced he was in Congressional and Executive matters, and how he could help him with foreign policy
57
Q

How the inexperience of President saffects VP selection

A
  • Recently, Presidents have been politically inexperienced and therefore they have been encouraged to select very experienced VPs to balance them and give them the gaps in the Executive they cannot fill
  • Obama had only been a Senator for 4 years before he was elected, and so his selection of Biden, who had been Senator for 36 years, balanced the experience
  • In contrast, Biden selected a younger candidate to give him an insight into newer opinion and appeal to other Democratic factions as he already has a lot of Presidential experience
  • Obama’s selection of Biden was particularly useful when they were attempting to ratify the START deal in 2010, with Biden holding 50 meetings and calls to persuade Senators to vote in favour of the deal and ratify it, and his relations and experience proved invaluable in securing the support of all Democratic senators and 13 Republicans
58
Q

What factor influences how much power Presidents decide to delegate to the VP?

A
  • Relationship to the President - can they be trusted enough to carry out delegated powers and be effective with the executive responsibility
  • Whether or not they have a particular area of expertise that they can advise on, or be given responsibility for
  • Their personality and popularity - can they be influential in Congress and do they have relationships in Congress that are helpful to the manifesto of the President?
  • Current events - Dick Cheney may not have been as influential if 9/11 had given him the opportunity to promote is foreign policy agenda and be key to Bush’s presidency, who lacked foreign policy experience - context enables effectiveness
59
Q

How has the VP role changed?

A
  • It has become much more important since the 1950s
  • May have few constitutional powers but the modern presidency has become very significant and important in foreign policy matters and delegation of Presidential roles to run the federal government and the Executive roles of domestic policy, foreign policy and all departments, and even having Congressional influence on whipping party members and gaining opposition support
  • They also have electoral power and act as a way or the President to have more party opinion in his direct advisors, making for a more effective presidency legislatively and politically with influence
  • Presidents can delegate significant power if they are inexperienced or they are interested in more collaborative politics
60
Q

Cheney and the Vice Presidency

A

Cheney was Gerald Ford’s Chief of Staff during a time Congress was trying to limit Presidential power following the Watergate Scandal

  • Congress introduced the War Powers Resolution (1973) that limited the use of military powers without congressional consent and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (1974) that stopped the President ‘impounding’ funds appropriated by Congress - stopped them refusing to fund projects they did not like
  • Beginning of the Imperilled presidency
  • His position as a key advisor to Bush had a big influence following 9/11, making the frequent media appearances to build support of military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, repeatedly telling the media that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and close ties with Al-Qaeda
  • He argued in favour of treating terrorist suspects as ‘enemy combatants’, voicing support for the Guantanamo Bay prison, enhanced interrogation and military commissions
  • Cheney devised the Terrorist Surveillance Program in which the National Security Agency illegally monitored the phone calls and emails of US citizens without a warrant
61
Q

Al Gore and the VP

A
  • Massively promoted the use of the internet and investment in technology outside of academia during the 1990s and early 2000s, and was very influential in the introduction of this to modernise the American economy and society
  • This demonstrates the potential extent of the power of the VP
62
Q

The imperilled presidency

A
  • This theory suggests that the President is not simply restricted but is the holder of a weak office without sufficient power , contradicting the imperial presidency theory but forward by Gerald Ford
  • He found the federal bureaucracy too big too manage effectively, and complained of the presidential lack of control over an increasingly complex executive branch
  • It has since adapted to argue that there are excessive limitations on presidential power, causing an ineffectual political leadership
  • The rise of polarised parties is applicable to this idea, with a recalcitrant Republican Party proving unwilling to co-operate and compromise with the elected Democrat leader, such as Obama and the ACA
63
Q

Problems of control - Imperilled presidency

A

The relationship between the president and the bureaucracy:

  • The bureaucracy has experience and expertise in its area of operation which is unlikely to be matched by any elected politician or their personal advisers; it has access to and control of information; and it is made up for the most part of permanent career civil servants who can stall policy change while waiting for a change of administration.
  • A bureaucracy has its own interests which do not coincide with its political masters; it will promote policies which are best able to further its own goals of survival and expansion; and it has limited interest in the overall national interest, or in pursuing policies which threaten the status quo.
  • It is aided in the pursuit of these goals by the nature of legislation which in places will be vague or ambiguous, and the implementation of which requires interpretation by the bureaucracy. Even if it is not always implemented in the narrow interests of the bureaucracy, it may well cause difficulties or embarrassment for the president.
64
Q

Problems of control - Imperilled presidency; specific issues

A
  1. Divided loyalties:
    - The bureaucracy is part of the executive branch and its function is to serve the president, but it is dependent on Congress for its continued existence and funding.
    - Congress has the power of oversight of its activities, and to establish, merge or abolish federal departments. In addition, the power of incumbency means members of Congress are likely to be around much longer than the president, so bureaucrats have a strong incentive to pay as much or more attention to the wishes of Congress as to those of the president.
    - Notoriously, the bureaucracy can form alliances with congressional committees and pressure groups to form ‘iron triangles’ — these work against the public interest in maintaining programmes of benefit to all three points of the triangle but hardly anyone else.
    - However, not even the most lucrative triangle can resist presidential pressure for ever, and one such came to an end with the cancellation of the F22 fighter programme by the Obama administration in 2009.
  2. Lack of coordination:
    - Multiple agencies, for example, have a stake in foreign policy: the State Department, the Defense Department, the NSC and the CIA, to name just some of the most prominent.
    - All have different priorities and sometimes pull in different directions. In particular, there is a long history of tension between State and Defense Departments, which was highly visible, for example, during the first term of the Bush presidency in the rivalry between secretaries Powell and Rumsfeld.
65
Q

Obama, Cruz and the Imperial Presidency - use of powers

A
  • It is suggested that these powers have been used by modern presidents in ways unintended by the founders and sine they are in effect governing by presidential decree- uncheck by Congress- they are a form of arbitrary power which would characterise an emperor or monarch.
  • Ted Cruz thinks this is the case when Obama used executive orders to amend his health care legislation. Cruz argued that this was a violation of the separation of powers.
66
Q

George Bush and the Imperial Presidency accusation

A

The vice-president Dick Cheney who, as President Ford’s chief of staff, had had an insider’s view of the ‘imperilled presidency’, came into office with the explicit intention of strengthening the executive branch. He was quoted in the press as claiming that the period after the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War was ‘the nadir of the modern presidency in terms of authority and legitimacy’ and had ‘harmed the chief executive’s ability to lead in a complicated, dangerous era.’
- He intended to turn around the imperilled presidency

67
Q

The Unitary Executive Theory

A
  • The terrorist attacks of September 2001 led the president to take a series of measures, including the detention of US citizens indefinitely as enemy combatants and a National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programme of US citizens, which critics claimed operated outside congressional checks and oversight, and even the rule of law.
  • However, as serious as the concerns over these programmes were, the bigger picture is that they were confined to a narrow range of national security issues and that President Bush’s last 2 years in office were conducted as a lame duck with a Democratic Congress. Even on national security, the administration was checked by a succession of Supreme Court cases, such as Hamdan v Rumsfeld, Rasul v Bush and Boumediene v Bush, which held that the military commissions it had created to try Guantanamo Bay detainees were unlawful in the form they were constituted.
68
Q

Trump and the Imperial Presidency

A
  • His authoritarian approach to foreign policy can be called imperial
  • His powers of office are not just the enumerated powers, but the extra-constitutional powers the presidency has acquired, such as the ability to start wars at their own discretion
  • It relies on constitutional ambiguity, and with a supreme court in the executive pocket, interpretation can establish precedents of imperial presidency
    https: //newrepublic.com/article/144297/dont-just-impeach-trump-end-imperial-presidency