2.6 Chief Executive and Chief Legislator “The Executive Power shall be Vested in a President of the United States of America” US Constitution Article II

Executive Power Enforce the provisions of all federal laws and administers a huge federal bureaucracy that spends more than 3 trillion dollars a year, and has over 2.7 million employees. Include Enforce laws, treaties, and court decisions Issues executive orders to carry out policies Appoints officials and remove officials Assumes emergency powers Presides over the cabinet and executive branch

Appointment Power Appoints all of the following Cabinet members and their top aides Heads of independent agencies Ambassadors and other diplomats All federal judges, us marshals, and US attorneys All subject to confirmation by a majority of the senate Limited by unwritten rule of senatorial courtesy

Senatorial Courtesy Unwritten rule that says The Senate will not approve an appointment that is opposed by a majority party senator from the state in which the appointee would serve.

Removal Power Presidents have the power to dismiss most of the officials they appoint Cannot dismiss federal judges, or commissioners of independent regulatory agencies

The Cabinet 14 executive department heads And the attorney general for a total of 15 Employee nearly 2/3 of the civilian employees of the federal government Often have divided loyalties To the president who appointed them and To institutional goals of their own department

The cabinet continued President’s often have trouble controlling their cabinet Interest groups often form close ties with cabinet departments The careers of civil servants extend beyond a single administration, as a result have a strong loyalty to their department Congress competes for influence of the cabinet departments

Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget The National Security Council The council of Economic Advisors

Office of Management and Budget OMB Largest office within the Executive Office of the President Primary responsibility to assist the president in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget

National Security Council NSC Composed of the president’s principal foreign and military advisors Includes the VP, secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, national security advisor, and others as necessary Principal function to advise and assist the president on national security and foreign policies

Council of Economic Advisors CEA Group of 3 leading economists who advise the president on economic policy Prepares the annual economic report of the president.

The White House Staff Key presidential aides Chief of staff Press secretary Highest ranking member of the EOP Duties include Selecting and supervising key White House Staff, and managing the flow of people and information into the Oval office

White House Staff Cont Must be personally loyal to the president Appointed and dismissed without senate approval Primary responsibility is to provide the President with policy options and analysis

Chief Legislator

Informal Powers Foreign Policy Bargaining and persuasion Executive orders Signing statements

Legislative powers of the President Not referred to as legislator in chief in the Constitution Given the following legislative powers by the Constitution Required to give a State of the Union address to Congress, identify problems, recommend policies and submit specific proposals (legislative agenda) Expected to propose comprehensive legislative program to deal with national problems Budget and accounting act of 1921 requires the president to prepare and present a federal budget

Legislative powers cont. Bring issues to the attention of Congress From time to time Veto congressional legislation

Veto Power Constitutional power to reject a bill passed by congress Can be overridden by a 2/3 vot3e of both houses of congress Presidential options when a bill is sent to him Sign it into law Veto the bill, congress may vote to override this veto Pocket Veto: Wait 10 days, if congress is still in session after 10 days the bill becomes law, if congress is not in session at the end of the 10 days the bill does NOT become law

Using the Veto Congress is usually unable to overcome a veto Less than 10% are overridden Use the threat to get congress to modify a bill before it is passed Vetoed bills are often revised and passed in another form Congress often adds “riders” that the president wants into objectionable bills to reduce the chance of a veto

Line Item Veto President must accept or veto the entire bill Many state governors have a line-item veto, that allows them to veto specific parts of a bill In 1996 congress passed a line item veto act Gave the president the ability to strike out specific dollar amounts or individual items from major congressional appropriations (spending) bills. Intended to help reduce wasteful spending

Line item veto cont. SCOTUS ruled that it was an unconstitutional expansion of the veto power To give the president a line item veto power would take a constitutional amendment

Working with Congress Prefer to establish cooperative and bipartisan relationships Strategies to influence Congress and legislation Assigning legislative liaisons from the EOP to lobby legislators Working with both the majority and minority parties Using the media to focus public attention on important issues Using high presidential approval ratings to persuade legislators to support presidential programs Bargaining with wavering legislators by offering concessions and pork that will benefit a member’s district

Divided Government What is it???? Frequent result of elections in the past 50 years Consequences Heightened partisanship and made it difficult for moderates to negotiate compromise Slowed the legislative process and thus created gridlock Contributed to the decline in public trust

Divided government cont. Poses a particular problem for presidents making federal appointments Fosters stricter scrutiny, narrows the field of potential candidates and may spark character attacks of the appointees

Attempts to overcome divided government Uses the media to generate Public support Threatening to veto objectionable legislation Making deals with congressional leaders Building coalitions with key interest groups Increasing reliance on the White House Staff

Which example best demonstrates a legislator acting as a trustee of his or her constituency? A) a legislator uses he or her best judgement B) a legislator does whatever is best for his or her re election C) a legislator follows the public opinion of his or her constituency---Consider this: this would be what a delegate does D) a legislator does what is in the best interest of his or her party.

In the house of Representatives a bill goes to the rules committee A) after it goes to a conference committee B) after it is approved by its full committee C) after it is debated in the full house D) before it is amended or rewritten in its full committee—Consider this: subcommittee consideration is what precedes full committee consideration