Presidential Powers and Unilateral Directives

Doctrine of acquiescence

Congress need not always give the president express approval to act sometimes, it need only remain silent

Federal Register Act

which required the government printing office, national archives to publish all executive orders, proclamations, agency rules, regulation, Allowed congress to oversee unilateral directives

Case Act

(1972) requiring presidents to report every international agreement, other than a treaty within 60 days

War Powers Resolution

1973, attempted to limit the presidents ability to freely decide when and for how long troops would be sent abroad. Required presidents to consult congress 'in every possible instance' before introducing military forces into foreign hostilities and required that troops be withdrawn if congress did not authorize the action within 60 or 90 days

Executive privilege

The claim of immunity from subpoenas and other information requests made by legislative and judicial branches to conceal their efforts to construct and implement public policy

unilateral directives

mechanisms by which presidents independently create policies that assume the weight of law

Executive Orders

combine the highest levels of substance, discretion, and direct presidential involvement and are probably the closest substitute for a legislative enactment

Proclamations

unilateral directives that are usually, but not exclusively, ceremonial in nature. Always target individuals and groups outside of the government

National Security Directives

President conceals their actions from congress, the courts, and the public, classified directive. In theory only to safeguard nations security. In practice may be used to repackage controversial executive order to avoid public scrutiny

executive agreements

agreements with foreign countries that, unlike treaties, do not require the Senate's formal ratification

Memoranda

function like executive orders but with few legal requirements, don't need to be published in the federal register, need not cite any statutory or constitutional authority to take effect

departmental order/ secretarial order

a unilateral order issued by a department secretary or undersecretary acting on the president's behalf

unilateral decisions

actions the president carries out on his own, such as issuing pardons or classifying documents

Pardons

Allow presidents to reject judicial actions they deem unfair or contrary to the public interest, cannot be revoked

Slack

Bureaucrats not working as hard as the president would want them to as they are not under the constant watch of elected officials

Drift

working to do so in the service of objectives that do not align with the presidents goals to as they are not under the constant watch of elected officials

Politicization

appointment of loyal and like minded personnel by hiring staff who are directly accountable to them, reorient the bureaucracy around the presidents objectives. Although what they gain in loyalty they lose in competence

Political appointees

staff directly accountable to the presidents and share their objectives, high level staff. Will work toward aligning the rest of the federal bureaucracy accordingly

Career bureaucrats

Rank and file bureaucrats who are not political appointees and are generally valued for their expertise

Excepted service

Used to bypass merit based hiring practice- helps streamline employment process

Schedule C

political appointments to confidential or policy-setting positions. Office of Personal Management (OPM) authorization sometimes for the purpose of advancing policy objectives often to reward political supporters

Political patronage

rewarding people with political appointments in reward for past political support

70/30 rule

Presidents nominate 70 percent of career service diplomates and 30% to donors who get cushy appointments that require less skill

Centralization

a presidential strategy of exerting political control over the bureaucracy by transferring key administrative and oversight tasks to the Executive Office of the President

Czars

policy advisors whose job is to coordinate and centralize the activities of multiple units of the executive branch- no congressional oversight

Institutional memory

Employees accumulated knowledge about an agency operations. Being eroded by partisanship

Recess appointment

designed to ensure that the government could continue to function when the senate adjourned for long periods of time but recently has been a presidential tool to circumvent opposition in Washington

Legal Model

Rely Legal expertise to interpret a law policy of practice. Determine the relevant portions of the constitution to which it applies as well as relevant case law. Decide whether there is any conflict between the two

Stare decisis

'to stand by things are already decided' -> judges must carefully weigh decisions made by their predecessors in similar cases. if basic elements of the case are the same judges are meant to render the same decision about a laws constitutionality

Standing

The principle that only parties with sufficient connection to harm may bring a suit

Ripeness

the principle that the judiciary should only hear cases that constitute actual disputes that are ready for litigation.

Case Law

interpretations of statutory and constitutional law by past courts

Attitudinal Model

judicial decisions are made in the same way that elected politicians choose to decide policy based on ideological convictions. Then find case law and precedent to support their decision

Cult of the robe

Formal homage paid to judges + etc -> legal decisions of judges are inviolable requires that judges insist that they remain independent and impartial interpreters of the constitution

Political Question Doctrine

establishes limits on the kinds of claims and disputes that justifiably come before the courts. 'questions in their nature political or which are by the constitution and laws submitted to the executive, can never be made' in the supreme court

Judicial review

Marbury v. Madison, federal courts may void legislative acts of congress (and policy acts of the president) they deem unconstitutional

Administrative deference

two part test to decide if a agencies statute should be upheld. Defer to the agency first when congress has not directly spoken to the question. Is the agency's interpretation is based on a permissible construction of the statute

Nondelegation doctrine

congress cannot relinquish its core legislative power to executive agencies

Presidential immunity

presidents are protected from civil suits resulting from action taken while president but not from criminal or civil initiated before they entered office

Habeas corpus

the principle that detained or imprisoned individuals have the right to come before a court to hear the charges brought against them

Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)

legal opinions can help legitimize the president's actions, headed by an assisted attorney general who was presidentially appointed with senate confirmation.

Solicitor General

Manages executive interactions with the supreme court, appointed by presidents, thus plays an integral role in representing and defending presidents interest within the judiciary

amicus curiae

a brief containing information directly pertinent to the case at hand. Solicitor general will formulate strategy and argue the case

Senatorial courtesy

norm that when choosing a judicial nominee for a district court the president will seek approval of senior senator who represents the state so that the senator will lobby for their senate confirmation