2.2.3 Presidential Oversight

How can Congress scrutinise the POTUS?

  1. Power of the Purse

  2. Presidential Appointments i.e Kavanaugh

  3. Presidential legislation - i.e. DREAM ACT

  4. Treaties - 2/3 senators needed to ratify treaties

  5. Override Presidents veto - JASTA - bipartisan support

How is the Presidential Oversight effected ?

P E E P

Popularity of the President in the Polls:

  • When the President is more popular then Congress is less likely to scrutinise due to their legitimate mandate and they feel less comfortable scrutinising a president with evident support

  • i.e. After 9/11 Bush was receiving 90% support in the polls so this allowed him to push PATRIOT Act without any pushback from Congress

  • Whereas if the POTUS has very low approval ratings they will get more pushback such as Biden and Trump - 1/2% laws passed

Elections Cycles:

  • In their first 100 days the POTUS has a lot more power and suffers little pushback due to evident mandate and united govt.

  • This can be seen with Trump’s over 200 executive orders from tarrifs to paper straws!

  • Congressmen tend to ‘hitch a ride’ with the Presidents popularity

  • Conversely, after mid-terms, expect far more scrutiny as the House is usually divided once the current party is held to account. I.e. Trump’s shut down and his impeachment twice

Events :

  • In times of national crisis Congress tend to be far mare lenient with the POTUS and step back and allow him to act like the Head of State v

  • This cane be seen with Ukraine’s war with Russia, Covid and stances on Hurricane Katrina

  • This reduces Presidential oversight greatly

Policy Area:

  • Depending on what the POTUs wants to do will effect how much scrutiny he receives from congress as a result

  • In areas of foreign interest the President tends to enjoy more freedom and less scrutiny whilst there is more scrutiny domestically

  • ‘Weak at home whilst strong abroad’

  • I.e. in 2015 Obama was able to pass 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal thriugh executive agreement despite Republican anger towards it

  • Meanwhile when Biden wants to Build Back Better or Trumo wants to build a wall they are unable to !

  • Similarly, with Trumps executive orders regarding tarriffs on Cuba

  • Following on from the Trump vs Hawaii case this has legitimised plans for Trump to pursue plans with travel ban

‘Evlt the view that Presidential oversight by Congress is effective’

A - The act of impeachment has been used to its full extent

B - It has been used against Johnson, Clinton and Trump twice when acting unconstitutionally and breaking the law

  • It could be argued that this is efficient scrutiny enough due to the fact it has proven Congress willingness to do it and not allowed Presidents to act imperially

  • Therefore, impeachment as a power has worked exactly how it should do in deterring from a dictatorship and holding the president to account

  • As well as this Nixons ressignation following Watergate due to fears on impeachement

C - Weak, they’ve all been found not guilty !

  • Despite a court hearing saying Trump would be imprisoned if he weren’t re-elected

  • Therefore evidently not holding POTUS to account even when they committ criminal offences such as rigging elections

  • Also in last 25 years - could be an indication of a partisan tool rather than a tool to hold POTUS to account

A - Congress has shown willingness in ability to over ride Presidential veto in recent years

B - This can be seen with Obama’s JASTA which acheived bipartisan support despite how hard it is to achieve this

Evidence that Congress can operation in a bipartisan nature to ensure the POTUS isn’t acting imperially and doing things they don’t agree with/ think aren’t representative of the electorates wants

C - This is a weak argument due to the lack of evidence of a veto override

  • This is due to the intricacies of the legislation process making a veto override extremely difficult especially in times of united govt. - unlikley to go against POTUS and even divided due to 2/3 majority

  • This can be seen when looking at Biden who never had his veto overriden and Trump and Obama who only ever had this happen to them once

  • So, willingness is undermined by their ability due to the legislation process

A - During times of divided govt. the President has experienced extensive scrutiny especially regarding the power of the purse

B - This can be seen by Trump’s 35 day shutdown and the Senate who are in control of this being Democrat

C - However, despite domestic power being limited in times of divided the govt. the POTUS goes essentially unchecked regarding foreign affairs - Dual Presidency

  • in 2015 Obama was able to pass 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal thriugh executive agreement despite Republican anger towards it

  • Meanwhile when Biden wants to Build Back Better or Trumo wants to build a wall they are unable to !

  • Similarly, with Trumps executive orders regarding tarriffs on Cuba

  • As well as the first 100 days

D - Stronger abroad than at home