Impoundment of funds
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When the President refuses to spend money
appropriated by Congress
 Nixon was infamous for this
Budget Reform Act of 1974
 Congress requires President to spend all
appropriated funds
EXECUTIVE ORDERS – president enforces the
Constitution, treaty, law or modify rules of the
bureaucracy; has the force of law
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Ex. FDR – Japanese internment camps, Obama shut
down Guantanamo Bay, Johnson enforced integration
President’s Domestic Powers
President’s formal enumerated powers to exert influence
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over domestic policy:
Has legislative powers (veto, pocket veto, signing bills)
Can call Congress into special session
Appointment power (to a domestic office) For
example judges, Cabinet members
Makes the State of the Union Address (at beginning
of the year/beginning of the yearly session.
Chief executive role (faithfully execute the law via his
agencies that actually carry out laws)
President and Domestic Policy troubles
Limitations/ troubles with Presidential ability to influence policy in
Congress:
 Lame Duck period - Period of time that a president’s term comes to
an end (at end of second term)
->President’s power is perceived as weak; president does not exert
control over Congress
->President’s approval ratings usually at lowest point
 Party Polarization - increased party differences and party loyalty
->Opposing party blocks president’s goals; no moderates to build a
coalition
 Mandatory spending - spending that is nondiscretionary; fixed
amounts of money in the budget
-> budgetary constraints cause difficulty in accomplishing goals;
budget cuts difficulty
Formal powers of President
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Commander in chief;
power to commit troops
Appointment of
ambassadors and foreign
policy officials
Negotiate/ make
treaties
Recognition of nations
(diplomatic power)
Receive ambassadors
and other public
ministers
Formal powers of Congress
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Declare war
Confirm ambassadors
Power of the purse in
military/ foreign policy
affairs
Ratify treaties
Pass laws/ resolutions on
foreign policy issues
Regulate foreign commerce
(trade agreements);
appropriations, funds
Impeachment
 Informal
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Executive agreements
Access to media/ bully pulpit/ morale building
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powers of the president:
Agenda setting- determines what is addressed
Meet with world leaders
Crisis manager
International coalition building
President has access to more info, knowledge, or
expertise than does Congress
Recognized as global leader
 Can
persuade Congress, persuade public, and
can get around the formal process
President/ Congress Conflict on Foreign
Policy
CONSTITUTIONAL CONFLICT…WHEN TO GO TO
WAR
- President is commander-in-chief, Congress has power
to declare war
War Powers Resolution

 Goal:
Limit the power of the President over war making
 President must notify Congress within 48 hours of sending
troops into combat
 Conflicts are limited to 60 days unless Congress takes
action
 Congress can extend time from the initial 60 days or can
withdraw troops after 60 days
Divided Government

Divided Government - Government in which one
party controls the White House and a different
party controls one or both houses of Congress
 Democratic
President Bill Clinton, Republican Congress
 Norm over the last 50 years due to split-ticket voting

Gridlock – inability to get anything done because
the branches bicker with one another and make
decisions difficult (no compromise/ bargaining)
 Paralysis
of policy-making
 Slows the process but true checks and balances
Vice presidents

Vice Presidency – empty job perception; only official
task is to preside over the Senate and vote in case of
a tie AND to decide on the question of presidential
disability (never happened)
 Absent
a crisis, vice pres is weak
 Most important role is to take over Presidency if President
is unable to fill term
8
presidents died in office (4 assassinations – Lincoln, Garfield,
McKinley, and Kennedy), Nixon resigned
 Vice
Presidency role is chosen by President
 Represents
Pres at ceremonies, advise him on specialized issues,
special projects (LBJ = civil rights, Gore = environment)
Succession and presidential
disability

What if the president is seriously ill but does not
die?
25th Amendment (1967) – VP serves as acting President
when the pres cannot discharge his duties of office
Either the President decides or the VP and a majority of
the cabinet or 2.3 vote in Congress decides is
President cannot serve
Succession Act of 1947 – If both Pres and VP are
unable to serve, 3) Speaker of the House, 4) Pres
Pro Tempore, 5) Cabinet members
 If vice pres steps up, who becomes the new vice
president?


VP nominates a new VP, confirmed by majority in both
houses
Office of the President Overview
 White House Office (West Wing)
 Executive Office of the President
 Cabinet
 Independent Agencies
* Rule of Propinquity
 The most powerful and influential staff members are
closest in proximity (physical and political)
to the President
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Heads of the 15 executive departments who “advise”
(give suggestions) to President on specialized areas
President appoints; Senate Confirms; President rewards
political friends and supporters
Not mentioned in the Constitution
Historically met regularly with the president to help with
decision making (“kitchen cabinet”)
Modern day – not influential over Pres decisions and Pres
has little power over departments
Cabinet members see selves as representatives of their
depts
WHO is chosen?
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Appointments come from private business,
universities, interest groups, labor unions, state
officials, or Congress  experienced, prior federal
experience
Politically and demographically diverse
The independent
executive agencies
include most of the
independent
agencies.
 The most important
difference between
the independent
executive agencies
and the 14 executive
departments is that
they simply do not
have Cabinet status.

Examples of
independent
executive agencies
include NASA, the
General Services
Administration, and
the EPA.
 Some independent
executive agencies
are far from wellknown, such as the
Citizens’ Stamp
Advisory Committee.

The independent regulatory commissions stand out
among the independent agencies because they are
largely beyond the reach of presidential direction
and control.
 Term length of members and staggering of member
appointments keep these commissions from falling
under control of one party.
 The regulatory commissions are quasi-legislative and
quasi-judicial, meaning that Congress has given them
certain legislative-like and judicial-like powers.

The President’s closest advisors work in the West
Wing of the White House, near the oval office.
White House Office/West Wing
 President’s closest assistants – oversee the political and policy
interests of the President
 West Wing of the White House
 Not approved by the Senate; hired and fired at
will by the President
 Organization of personal staff
 Pyramid structure
 Most assistants report through a hierarchy to a chief of staff who deals
directly with the pres.
 +Orderly flow of information; effective use of time
 -isolates or misinforms the pres.; chief of staff = powerful
 Circular structure
 Cabinet secretaries, assistants and committees report directly to pres
 +ideas from several sources
 -too much info – confusion and conflict; ineffective use of time
 Most end up with pyramid structure for efficiency
Executive Office of the President
 Agencies report directly to the President and perform specified
services for him; experts; career civil servants
 Top positions are appointed and confirmed by Senate; can be fired by
President at will
 *Office of Management and Budget
-Assembles and analyzes the yearly budget the President submits to
Congress; reviews & reorganizes the work of departments; 500
person staff
 National Security Council
-lead advisory board in the area of national and international security;
advises Pres on military and foreign affairs (Pres, VP, Sec of State
and Defense, National Security Advisor
-Office of National Drug Control Policy
-CIA
-Council of Economic Advisers
 Leading economists who inform Pres on nation’s economy