Lecture Notes on the Presidency ( june 23, pt.1)

Class Overview

The class is on schedule.
Presidency will either be finished or close to finished.
Bureaucracy will be discussed on Wednesday.
Three of five quizzes have been taken, representing 60% of the grade.
Students unhappy with their grades should reach out for help.
June 18 was the drop date.
Most students are doing well, with a fair number of A's.
No quiz this week, but there will be one next week covering this week's material.
The class will continue withe the presidency material, including vetoes and informal powers.

The president can veto a bill after it goes through Congress.
A veto can be overridden if 2/3 of both chambers agree (67 senators, 290 house members).
Overrides are rare, typically happening when the president is weak (e.g., Nixon during Watergate, Andrew Johnson in 1867-1868).
Trump had one veto overridden in his first term, which is average.
Presidents usually issue a veto message explaining their reasons, which may be due to cost issues or disagreement with the bill's content.
A bill might be reintroduced when there's a new president or congress.
Congress can wait to send a bill to the president.
Presidents may sign bills they hate because they're veto-proof (e.g., George W. Bush and the McCain-Feingold bill).

Written into the Constitution, but the term "pocket veto" is not used.
The President has 10 days (excluding Sunday, effectively 11) to act on a bill.
If Congress is in session and the president does nothing, it becomes law.
If Congress adjourns, it's a pocket veto.
Pocket veto cannot be overridden.
A president might use a pocket veto to avoid controversy or taking a stance that could anger different groups.
Example: George W. Bush, the compassionate conservative, who might face criticism no matter whether they sign the law or veto it.

Presidents have sought the power of line item veto.
It was enacted as a law but struck down as unconstitutional.
Line item veto allows the president to edit a bill, striking out specific items (usually spending).
It was in effect for two years (1993-1995) under Bill Clinton.
Republicans pushed for it but were upset when Clinton used it.
The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers, as the president is supposed to execute the law, not rewrite it.
It makes the president a super legislator because he's rewriting the bill.
Without the line item veto, presidents must sign or veto the entire bill.
Governors of Georgia has a line item veto power.

Not spelled out in the Constitution.
Include quasi-legislative powers.
Very controversial.
President Trump signed more executive orders since January 20 than Joe Biden did in his four years as president.

Least controversial quasi-legislative power.
When a president proclaims something, they bring attention to it.
Example: Black History Month, which every president since Reagan has proclaimed.
Great American Smoke Out.
November 15 is American Recycling Stick.
The most famous proclamation is the Emancipation Proclamation (which was also an executive order).

Very controversial.
Has the force and effect of law.
The president orders a member of the Executive Branch to do something.
Example: After 9/11, George W. Bush ordered the FAA to ground all aircraft.
The overwhelming majority of executive orders are very minor.
Most infamous example: In January 1942, Franklin Roosevelt ordered the round-up of Japanese Americans and put them in relocation centers (concentration camps).
Fred Korematsu, Japanese American. He got arrested. He was put on trial. He was found guilty, and he appealed to the Supreme Court.
TheSupreme Court held that it was constitutional in a time war to round up people, American citizens, and put them in relocation centers against their will because of the danger to The United States.
In the 1980s, the U.S. formally apologized and provided reparations.
In 1950, Truman ordered his Secretary of Commerce to seize steel mills.
The US Supreme Court said that Truman had exceeded his authority. But that was years later.
Trump's executive orders are ending up in courts.
Obama: dreamers.
Saturday Night Live did a skit about Obama using the executive order to help these dreamers.
The Supreme Court can find them unconstitutional.
A subsequent president can change them.
Congress can pass a resolution overruling them.
The president has to be able to control their subordinates.

Similar to executive orders but less formal.
An executive order has to there's we're gonna talk about this a little while. The office of management and budget, they typically when there's something that the president does or congress does, they give it a score. They give it a this is how much it's gonna cost. They score the legislation.
The executive order has to be published.

Richard Neustadt, presidential candidates begging you for advice.
The real power of a president is their power to persuade.
Bully Pulpit.
- Popularized by Richard Newstadt.
- Teddy Roosevelt used his presidency like a bully pulpit.
Successful presidents are masters of the media age.
- Lincoln: public letters.
- FDR: Fireside chats.
- Kennedy: Very good on TV.
- Reagan: Master on TV.
- Social Media.
Social media. Yeah. You know, Barack Obama somewhat, but Trump loving or hating, I mean, he's he's all over social media, and he's revolutionized it.