The Presidency in Action

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Chapter 14

• The Presidency in Action

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Section 1 The Growth of Pres. Power

• Article II
• Const. established the presidency
• There are specific powers the president has but
  the Const. describes powers of pres. loosely.
• Two arguments for the powers of the pres.
• 1) President should be subordinate to the
  legislator
• 2) Presidency should be separate and coequal to
  the legislator

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Why Pres. Power Has Grown

• Stronger Presidency argument almost always win.
  Why?
• Several Factors have strengthened the Presidency
• 1) Nations increasingly complex social life
• 2) Need for decisive action in times of an
  emergency
• 3) Congress has by laws they have passed to
  strengthen the national govt
• 4) Pres. can attract attention to issues by using
  mass media

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The Presidential View

• The President has viewed the office 2 ways
• 1) A stronger and more broad view of their powers
• 2) A narrow view that the powers are only what
  the const. and congress gives the presidency
• Many argue that the US pres. has become an
  imperial presidency by taking action without
  consulting Congress.

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Section 2 The Presidents Executive Power

• Pres. must enforce, administer, carry out the
  law no matter his personal views
• The power to do so rests in 2 provisions
• 1) Oath of Office
• 2) Const. Says he shall take care that the laws
  be faithfully executed
• Ex. Armed forces, ss, gun control, min. wages,
  aff. Action, epa, immigration, taxing, housing

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The Ordinance Power

• Pres. head of the many departments of the federal
  govt and has the power to administer.
• The ordinance power gives the Pres. the power to
  issue executive orders, which is a directive,
  rule or regulation that has the effect of law.
• This power arises from the Const. and Congress

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The Appointment Power

• With the Senates Consent the Pres. Names all of
  the top ranking members of the federal govt.
  among them are
• 1) ambassadors and diplomats
• 2) cabinet mem. their aides
• 3) The head of indep. Agencies
• 4) all fed. Judges, US Marshals, fed. atty.
• 5) All officers in the Armed Forces

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The Removal Power

• Const. does not say how or by whom federal
  officers will be dismissed
• Historical Argument
• Some framers thought if Senate approves then
  Senate should dismiss so there may be oversight
  of the exec.
• Others argued that the pres. needed the freedom
  to dismiss those who were incompetent

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The Removal Power Continued

• Later view won out the 1st Congress gave the
  Pres. the power to remove whomever he needed
  except fed. judges.
• Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which
  said no appointee can be removed from office
  before a successor is approved by the Senate

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The Removal Power continued

• Removal and the Court
• Myers v. US, 1926 Pres. Removal power was
  challenged.
• In 1876 Congress passed a law requiring Senate
  consent before Pres. Could dismiss 1,2,3rd class
  post masters
• Wilson dismissed Frank Myers and he sued for 4
  years of salary saying Wilson was in violation
• SC found the 1876 law unconstitutional

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The Removal Power Continued

• Removal and the Court
• SC did place limits on removal in Humphreys
  Executor v. US
• Hoover appointed Humphrey to 7 yr. term on FCC in
  1931
• FDR entered office 1933, asked Humphrey to
  resign, he refused, FDR removed him
• Humphrey died and his heirs sued for back pay
• SC sided with heirs and also stated that Congress
  does have the power to set removal conditions for
  indep. agencies

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Section 3 Diplomatic Military Powers

• The Power to Make Treaties
• Must receive 2/3rds vote in Senate for approval
  or a joint resolution of a majority of both
  Houses
• Gave this power to Senate to insure secrecy
• Senate does not ratify treaty but just gives its
  advice and consent
• When a treaty and fed. law conflict the later
  wins out
• A treaty cannot conflict with the constitution
• SC will rule it unconstitutional

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Executive Agreements

• Exec. agreement is a pact between pres. and the
  head of a foreign state
• Does not require Senate vote
• Most exec. agreements come from legislation
  already passed by Congress

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The Power of Recognition

• Pres. acting on behalf of the US recognizes the
  legal existence of another country
• Recognition can be used as a weapon
• Displeasure of a country can be shown by
  recalling ambassadors in this country
• Officially called persona non grata

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Commander in Chief

• Pres. delegates most military authority to
  military subordinates but has final say
• Making undeclared war
• Pres. Often goes to war w/o consent of congress
  but military powers are shared
• Congressional Resolutions
• Congress has not declared war since WWII
• However, Congress has enacted joint res. for
  Pres. to use force when needed

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Other uses of Military Power

• Pres. has deployed forces w/o Congressional Res.
• Korean War
• Invasion of Grenada
• Invasion of Panama
• Bosnia and Kosovo

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The War Powers Resolution of 1973

• Resolutions central provisions
• 1) Within 48 hrs. of committing US forces Pres.
  must report circumstances of action
• 2) Combat must end within 60 days unless Congress
  has granted longer but may be extended 30 days
  more to allow for safe removal of armed forces
• 3) Congress may end combat at any time
• Nixon vetoed it lost/const. in ques.

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Section 4 Legislative and Judicial Powers

• Recommending Legislation
• Const. says that Pres. shall recommend measures
  to Congress
• This is called the message power
• Pres. sends 3 major messages a yr. to congress
• 1st is state of the Union
• 2nd Budget message
• 3rd Annual economic report
• Many other measures are introduced as well

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The Veto Power

• Every piece of legislation must be presented to
  the Pres.
• Pres. has 4 options with each piece
• 1) sign the bill, making it law
• 2) Veto it return it to Congress
• Congress may override it w/ 2/3rds
• 3) Not act on it it becomes law in 10 days
• 4) Pocket veto- not act on it and session ends,
  the measure dies
• Congress passes a lot of measures at the end of a
  session

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The Line -Item Veto

• Pres. must veto the entire bill not portions of
  it
• Argument for need for line-item veto
• In spending bills, cancel certain dollar items
• This would curb wasteful spending
• Line-item veto would give Pres. too much power
• 1996 Line-Item Veto Act gave Pres. power
• Clinton v. US

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Other Legislative Powers

• Only President can call a joint session
• Only a President can adjourn session

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Judicial Powers

• Pres. can grant reprieves pardons
• Reprieve- postponement of execution
• Pardon- legal forgiveness of a crime
• Usually used after conviction
• Pardon must be accepted for it to be effective
• Commutation is reducing a sentence
• Amnesty is a blanket pardon for a group
• Clemency can be only used in cases of federal
  crimes