Head of State and Chief Executive

head of state

leader of a nation or country

• represents nation, performs ceremonial roles

• article II “receive ambassadors and other public ministers”

chief executive

directs activities of executive branch

head of state ceremonial duties examples

baseball pitch

Xmas tree and Menorah on Ellipse

meet olympians

give awards to distinguished people

executive branch

over 150 departments and agencies

over 2 million federal employees

implement laws

vague constitutional sources of presidential power

article II, section I

• executive power vested in a president

article II, section III

• shall take care that laws are faithfully executed

“faithfully executed”

put congressional laws into action

make choices how to do so

presidential appointment power

appoints about 2,200 federal officials to run executive branch

• 15 people lead cabinet departments (major agencies of executive branch)

tries to appoint officials who share same political beliefs (senate must confirm)

can also fire officials they’ve appointed

appoints all federal judges for life (LONG impact)

executive orders

presidential directives, have force of law without Congressional approval

power implied by article II “executive power”, “make sure laws faithfully executed'“

must be related in some way to constitution or delegated by congress

executive orders examples

dwight d eisenhower

• put arkansas national guard under federal control to force little rock to desegregate

jimmy carter

• put thousands of acres of Alaskan land under national park service

lincoln

• emancipation proclamation

FDR

• Japanese internment camps

recently, environmental protections too

successors undoing executive orders

• 1984 reagon restricted funding for abortion

• Bill Clinton reversed

• George W Bush brought back restriction on funds

• Obama brought back funds

impoundment of funds

president refusing to spend funds that Congress approved to carry out programs

supporters say its an inherent power of executive branch

opps say undermines will of voters

1803 Thomas Jefferson didn’t spend congress-approved money on gunboats bc he believed they were no longer needed

limited impoundment power

nixon impounded billions, was taken to court, forced to spend

congress passed legislation to prevent large-scale impounding without congressional approval and strengthened congressional budget authority

reprieve

postpone legal punishment

pardon

releases a person of legal punishment

usually for federal crimes

1974 gerald ford pardoned nixon for watergate

amnesty

pardon for group of people who committed an offense against the gov

jimmy carter gave amnesty to draft-dodgers in the vietnam war