Section 6: Powers of the Presidency
What powers does the executive branch have?
Powers of the President Alone
Commander-in-Chief
Commission officers in the armed forces
Grant reprieves and pardons (except for impeached persons)
Cont
Convene Congress in special sessions
Receive ambassadors
Take care that laws are faithfully executed
Cont.
Wield “executive power”
Appoint officials to lesser offices
Powers Shared with Senate
Make Treaties
Appoint Ambassadors, judges, and high officials
Power shared with Congress as a whole (House and Senate)
Approve legislation
Taken alone and interpreted narrowly this list is not very impressive.
This interpretation has grown, especially using the “faithfully executed” clause, its seen as elastic
Executing the law
Executes, enforces, and carries out the provisions of federal law
Rests on the oath of office that “laws be faithfully executed”
Executive Powers
cont.
Executes all federal laws
Also interprets law. The president can use his discretion with how vigorously and in what particular way a law will be applied in practice
Laws of Congress are written in broad terms, executive branch must set out basic policies in day-to-day usage
Ordinance Power
Power to issue executive orders
An executive order is a rule or directive issued by the president...sort of like a law, but NOT a law
Appointment Power
President needs loyal subordinates to presidential policies
Ambassadors, Cabinet Ministers, heads to independent agencies, Judges, US Marshals, Attorneys
Senatorial Courtesy applies
Removal Power
Should Senate have to give consent to remove someone from office or does the President have this discretion?
General Rule - President can only remove those that he appoints (EXCEPT FEDERAL JUDGES)
Power to make treaties
Formal agreement between two or more sovereign states
Senate must give approval by two-thirds present before a treaty made by the president can become effective
Treaties have the same legal standing as a law (last enacted is the law)
Executive Agreements
Pact between the president and a foreign state
Do not require Senate consent
Must flow out of legislature already passed, usually routine matters
Power of Recognition
Acknowledge the legal existence of a country and its government
Persona non grata - recall that nations ambassadors an unwelcome person or remove ours from their nation
Commander-in-Chief
Almost without limit
Delegates most of command authority to military subordinates
Presidents often use armed forces abroad without a declaration of war
Congress has not declared war since WWII.
It has enacted joint resolutions to authorize the president to meet certain international crises with military force
Where it has used force
Cuban Missile Crisis
Military Reaction to the Berlin Wall
Drive Iraq out of Kuwait 1991
Use force against those responsible for 9/11
2002- what is necessary and appropriate to remove threat posed by Hussein
President has used forces without military joint resolutions
Reagan in Grenada
Invasion of Panama in 1989
Balkans in 1995 and 1999
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964
Gave president broad powers to commit unlimited numbers of troops for an unlimited amount of time
Never really a success with LBJ or post-LBJ era presidents
War Powers Act -
President must be able to respond rapidly but not drag US into undeclared or illegal war
i. Within 48 hours of committing troops to combat abroad president must report to Congress detailed circumstances and scope
ii. Combat must end within 60 days unless Congress agrees to longer. It can be extended up to 30 days to allow for safe withdrawal of American forces
iii. Congress may end the combat commitment at any time by passing a concurrent resolution
Recommend legislation in the State of the Union (message power)
Three major messages to Capitol Hill each year, first is the State of the Union
Legislative and Judicial Powers
Veto Power
a. Sign It
b. Pocket veto
c. Not signed within 10 days - law
Veto it
Line-Item Veto
1996 - Gives president power to reject individual items in spending bills and to eliminate any provisions of a tax bill that benefits fewer than 100 people
Line-Item cont.
It was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
Gave the president legislative power, not keeping the branches separate
Budget Impoundment Control Act
President can refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress
ex. JFK did not spend money appropriated for a new weapons system or LBJ did not spend all appropriated for highway constructions
Impoundment cont.
the Constitution is silent on whether President MUST spend that money
Nixon impounded funds under laws he had not vetoed...Congress was mad
Led to Budget Impoundment Control Act 1974
Budget Impoundment Control Act 1974
requires president to spend all appropriated funds unless he first tells Congress which he wishes not to spend and within 45 days Congress deletes it
Federal courts have upheld that the president must spend what has been appropriated
Grant Reprieves (postponement of execution of a sentence)
Grant Pardons (legal forgiveness)
Commutation - a change of legal punishment to a lesser one
Judicial Powers
Amnesty
Blanket pardon offered to a group of law violators
ex 1977- Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam War draft dodgers
Executive Privilege
Constitution says nothing about whether the president has to divulge private communications between himself and principle advisors.
Should he have this right? It could weaken the number of officials the pres can speak to in confidence
US v Nixon
1973 - Watergate Tapes
Supreme Court to decide on executive privilege directly
There is no unqualified executive privilege from the judicial process but there might be a sound basis
US v Nixon cont
It is ok to use if the information is so sensitive that it requires protection
Watergate tapes were not sensitive materials
Clinton and Paula Jones (Clinton v Jones) - no immunity from civil litigation