Chapter 12: The Presidency E3

bully pulpit

Theodore Roosevelt’s notion of the presidency as a platform from which the president could push an agenda

cabinet

a group of advisors to the president, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch who head the fifteen executive departments

Executive Office of the President

the administrative organization that reports directly to the president and made up of important offices, units, and staff of the current president and headed by the White House chief of staff

executive order

a rule or order issued by the president without the cooperation of Congress and having the force of law

• Change government policy without congressional consent

• Constrained by threat of legislative or judicial action to coutner any executives orders

executive privilege

the president’s right to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public

going public

a term for when the president delivers a major television address in the hope that public pressure will result in legislators supporting the president on a major piece of legislation

impeachment

the act of charging a government official with serious wrongdoing, which in some cases may lead to the removal of that official from office

king caucus

an informal meeting held in the nineteenth century, sometimes called a congressional caucus, made up of legislators in the Congress who met to decide on presidential nominees for their respective parties

line-item veto

a power created through law in 1996 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998 that allowed the president to veto specific aspects of bills passed by Congress while signing into law what remained

Office of Management and Budget

an office within the Executive Office of the President charged with producing the president’s budget, overseeing its implementation, and overseeing the executive bureaucracy

rally around the flag effect

a spike in presidential popularity during international crises

signing statement

a statement a president issues with the intent to influence the way a specific bill the president signs should be enforced

1st key point

Presidential actions have profound consequences for the nation, both at home and abroad

2nd key point

Presidential power comes from many sources, ranging from explicitly constitutional authority to how they manage the bureaucracy

3rd key point

Presidential power has also grown over time, particularly because of America’s emergence as a dominant nation on the world state, the general expansion of the federal government and various acts of legislation that have granted new authority to the executive

4th key point

Despite this increase in power, presidents are also severely constrained due to public opinion foreign opposition, and/or congressional resistance

What is the president supposed to do?

“The executive power shall be vested ina president of the united states of america”

(article II of the constitution)

Section 1: Qualifications and selection

Section 2: Commander in chief, pardon, appointment head of departments

Section 3: State of the union, recommended legislation, convene congress

Section 4: Removal/impeachment

Who can be president?

• Natural born citizen

• > 35 years old

• Resident of the US for 14 years

Commander in chief

The president controls day to day military operations through management of the department of defense

Chief of government

executive branch

Chief of state

Symbolic and political representative

Make appointments

• Roughly 8,000 posts are filled by the president

• Shared with congress

• Can bypass senate consent when or if congress is in recess (recess appointment)

- The filibuster doesn’t apply

Making treaties

• Shared power

• President has first mover advantage

• President negotiates

• Two thirds majority of the senate needs to approve

Executive agreements

• Bypassing congressional vote

• Announce voluntary participation

an international agreement between the president and another country made by the executive branch and without formal consent by the Senate

Make appointments

• Roughly 8,000 posts are filled by the president 

• Shared with congress

• Can bypass senate consent when or if congress is in recess (recess appointment)

Pardons and communications

• Can pardon people convicted of federal crimes or commute reduce their sentences

• Does not apply for state crimes, only federal 

• Very few limits on this power only people impeached and convicted by congress are ineligible for presidential pardons

Legislative tools

• Recommended policies in the state of the union

• Power to persuade

• Going public (appeals are made directly to the american citizenry)

• Economic influence

• President can veto legislation – most common under divided government

Expansion of executive power

• Executive orders

• Signing statements (when congress passes a bill and send ot the president for a signature, the president can attach a statement to the bill — what I understand, direct my branch of government to enact this policy) 

• Executive agreements

The undoing of executive power

• Executive orders are unilateral declarations made by the president

• This means that they can be undone by future administrations

• Often a directive to bureaucrats about how agencies should act

• Each administration can change those directives

Each department is head by secretary, the cabinet is the group of them, president’s closets advisors