Impoundment of funds
Nixon was infamous for this
Budget Reform Act of 1974
 Congress requires President to spend all
appropriated funds
EXECUTIVE ORDERS –
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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
Appointment power (to a domestic office) For
example judges, Cabinet members
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 –
->President’s power is perceived as weak; president does not exert
control over Congress
->President’s approval ratings usually at lowest point
 Party Polarization
->Opposing party blocks president’s goals; no moderates to build a
coalition
 Mandatory spending -
-> 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
of the president:
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Executive agreements
Access to media/ bully pulpit/ morale building
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
President/ Congress Conflict on Foreign
Policy
- President is commander-in-chief, Congress has power
to declare war
 Goal:
Limit the power of the President over war making
 President must notify Congress within 48 hours of sending
troops into combat
 Congress can extend time from the initial 60 days or can
withdraw troops after 60 days
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

– 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 –
; 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)
 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?
– 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
– 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?
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Office of the President Overview
 White House Office (West Wing)
 Executive Office of the President
 Cabinet
 Independent Agencies
* Rule of Propinquity
Heads of the 15 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
 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?

White House Office/West Wing

interests of the President
– oversee the political and policy
 West Wing of the White House
 Not approved by the Senate; hired and fired at
will by the President
 Organization of personal staff
 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
 Cabinet secretaries, assistants and committees report directly to pres
 +ideas from several sources
 -too much info – confusion and conflict; ineffective use of time
 M
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;
 *Office of Management and Budget
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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