U.S. Presidency: Constitutional Powers, Foreign Policy, and Welfare Programs

Article II

The article of the Constitution that establishes the presidency.

Executive power

The power vested in a President of the United States of America.

Presidential oath

To preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Vesting the executive power

It makes the president the head of state and chief executive of the nation.

Types of presidential powers

Expressed, implied, and delegated powers.

Expressed powers

Specific powers granted to the president by the Constitution (Article II).

Categories of expressed powers

Military, Judicial, Diplomatic, Executive, and Legislative.

Commander in Chief

The president's role in the military.

President's intelligence network

CIA, FBI, NSC, and NSA.

Deploying troops

Can occur during emergencies, to maintain order, enforce federal law, or protect civil rights.

Power to declare war

Congress has this power (last declared war on December 8, 1941).

Judicial powers of the president

Can grant pardons, reprieves, and amnesty for federal offenses.

Pardoning state crimes

The president cannot pardon state crimes or impeachments.

Self-pardon

It's uncertain; the Constitution doesn't say if a president can pardon themselves.

Historical examples of pardons

Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon; Andrew Johnson granted amnesty to Confederates after the Civil War.

Diplomatic powers

Make treaties (with Senate approval), recognize other nations, and create executive agreements.

Recognizing a country

Acknowledge its legitimacy and possibly establish diplomatic relations.

Executive powers

Ensuring all laws are faithfully executed, and appointing and supervising executive officers.

Appointments requiring Senate approval

Ambassadors, ministers, and federal judges.

Executive privilege

The claim that communications between the president and advisors can remain confidential.

Role in legislative process

Sets policy agendas, submits the annual budget, and can veto congressional acts.

Overriding a veto

Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate.

Congress overriding vetoes

Has occurred 111 times out of about 2,500 vetoes.

Implied powers

Powers not directly stated but inferred from expressed powers, based on the 'necessary and proper' clause.

Unitary executive theory

The idea that the president holds broad, sovereign authority with few restraints.

Delegated powers

Powers Congress gives to the executive branch to carry out laws and programs.

Reason for delegating powers

Congress delegates powers because it can't manage all programs it creates, so it lets executive agencies handle details.

Going public

A strategy used by presidents to appeal directly to the public.

Administrative strategy

A way for presidents to achieve goals without needing congressional approval.

Administrative rule

When published in the Code of Federal Regulations, it gains the power of law.

Executive order

A presidential directive to federal agencies to take specific actions, often bypassing Congress.

Welfare state

Government programs designed to promote citizens' wellbeing.

Contributory programs

Programs funded by payroll taxes paid by workers and employers.

Non-contributory programs

Programs for low-income individuals who don't pay into them (the 'deserving poor').

Means testing

Determining eligibility for benefits based on income.

Deserving poor

Widows, orphans, and the disabled.

Undeserving poor

Able-bodied individuals who are unwilling to work.

Tax expenditures

Tax code subsidies that promote social goals; considered 'indirect spending.'

Entitlements

Legal obligations by the federal government to make payments to eligible individuals (e.g., Social Security, Medicare).

Funding for Social Security and Medicare

Comes from payroll taxes.

Financial troubles of Social Security

Supporters say they are exaggerated and could be fixed by taxing the wealthy more or removing the payroll tax cap.

Payroll tax cap in 2022

The first $176,000 of income was subject to payroll tax.

Beneficiaries of tax expenditures

Middle- and high-income households.

Main goal of U.S. foreign policy

Security.

Isolationism

Avoiding involvement in other nations' affairs.

Preventive war

Striking first to prevent a potential attack.

Appeasement

Giving in to a hostile power's demands to avoid war.

Containment

Preventing the expansion of hostile powers.

Deterrence

Building a strong military to discourage attacks.

U.S. international economic goals

Expand domestic employment, maintain access to energy supplies, promote foreign investment in the U.S., and keep prices low for U.S. consumers.

Purpose of U.S. trade policy

To promote American goods and services abroad.