US Presidency - Topic 3.3

Question 1

What does the relationship between Congress and the President rely on?

What four factors?

Answer 1

• The electoral mandate and the timing of the electoral cycle
• The manner in which they exercise their constitutional powers
• Their popularity
• Which party control either House of Congress

Question 2

How well did the past four presidents and Congress get along?

1993-2021

Answer 2

Clinton:

• Relatively successful; got his Assault Weapons Ban passed however his healthcare reform failed to do the same, becoming an issue in the 1994 midterms

Bush Jr.:

• Bush’s healthcare reform passed Congress however his ‘axis of evil’ policy didn’t hold up in Congress and support wavered, the extent to which the operations were successful were debated

Obama:

• Obama successful oversaw gay rights become law but his immigration reform, his main campaign promise, failed to pass and had to rely on EOs instead, straining the relationship near the end of his second term

Trump:

• His shutdown of Congress and his outrageous asks from Congress caused a constantly strained relationship and with his popularity falling, he no longer had a visible coattails effect

Question 3

How well did the past four presidents and the Supreme Court get along?

1993-2021

Answer 3

Clinton:

• Uneventful, nominations were made to the court with him nominating Ruth Bader Ginsburg, allowing for an easier time while in office

Bush Jr.:

• Possible election fraud in the 2000 election strained the relationship, however the rest of his tenure was relatively uneventful in the court

Obama

• Obama openly criticised the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Citizens United v Federal Elections Commission, stating they had “opened the floodgates” to huge volumes of money being spent in elections.
• Constant rulings on Obama’s EOs led to him not getting sustained immigration reform, further straining the relationship between the two

Trump:

• With Trump nominating three justices to the Supreme Court, there was little trouble between the two, apart from his shutdown of Congress

Question 4

How do elections affect the power of the president?

Answer 4

• If the president claims a sweeping victory, they will have a strong mandate to make requests to Congress, which can be difficult to ignore. A president with less electoral success, or who loses either or both houses of Congress, is likely to find using their powers more difficult
• Convincingly winning an election helps too, as this brings about the coattails effect. When a political leader does well, those who are associated with them tend to attract more vote too. A president with a substantial popular vote is more likely to attract support from Congress. If a president is unpopular, members of Congress are likely to distance themselves from the president in the midterm elections

Question 5

How do national circumstances affect presidential power?

Answer 5

National events are a time when the public can rally around the president because they need a unifing leader to look up too. Fear can bring this about, or positive national circumstances, such as a booming economy; this is not guaranteed however.

Hurricane Maria (2017):

• A slow response from Trump, and his later description of the response as a “great success”, courted controversy (×)

Afghanistan Withdrawl (2021):

• The withdrawl was chaotic and led to the Taliban reclaiming control over the country (×)

Russian Invasion of Ukraine (2022):

• The crisis allowed Biden to focus on foreign policy, and use it to shape his State of the Union address and visit Poland for a NATO meeting (✔)

Question 6

How effective is presidential accountability to Congress?

Effective?

Answer 6

Effective:

• Short election cycles mean that Congress is highly responsive to the coattails effect and presidential popularity and is more willing to use its powers when the president is unpopular
• Congress has significant control over domestic policy
• The Constitution given Congress a range of checks to prevent presidential action and remove the president if necessary
• During divided government, Congress has demonstrated its willingness to override presidential action
• National crises can dent presidential popularity which directly affects Congress’ willingness to apply checks and balances

Question 7

How effective is presidential accountability to Congress?

Ineffective?

Answer 7

• Enumerated presidential powers give them far greater scope as they’re able to exercise powers alone while congressional powers often require supermajorities and bipartisanship which is hard to achieve
• In foreign policy, Congress have very few powers to hold the president accountable, and those that it does have are weaker than domestic
• Constitutional powers of Congress are largely reactive rather than preventative, meaning the president can circumvent Congress entirely
• In times of unified government, Congress is often reluctant to keep check of the president, giving them considerable power
• National crises requiring a swift response means Congress has to defer powers to them, as the president is a singular executive who can act quickly; granting the president large swaths of power