CONGRESS AND THE
PRESIDENT
WHO’S GOT THE POWER?
THE FRAMERS
• Saw Congress as the central, if not dominant, branch of
government
• Congressional Powers
• Power of the purse
• Interstate and foreign commerce oversight
• Currency
• Declare War
• Approve treaties (Senate)
• Make laws “which shall be necessary and proper” for carrying out specific
powers (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18)
EARLY STRONG PRESIDENTS
• Thomas Jefferson – used political parties to exert influence in Congress
• Andrew Jackson – marshaled public opinion to gain influence
• Abraham Lincoln – national crisis
• Franklin Roosevelt – national crisis
• Under stronger executives the Presidency gained power and influence.
In periods of weaker executives Congress took the reigns.
• Power vacuum
SPLIT-GOVERNMENT
• Regardless of where the power lies a divided government will
continue being a hurdle.
• Reagan and military aid to Contra rebels in Nicaragua
• Clinton and health care reform measures and the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty.
• Signed but not ratified
• George W. Bush stimulus package in late 2001.
• Good public policy?
Source: Congressional Quarterly
Credit: Nelson Hsu/NPR
On roll-call votes where the president
had a clear position, what percentage of
the time did Congress support the
president's position?
PRESIDENT OBAMA VS CONGRESS
SOURCES OF DISCORD
• What causes all of this gridlock?
1. The Constitution
a) Divides power between Congress and the presidency and then again between the
House and the Senate.
b) Article I grants Congress “all legislative Powers” but limited those powers to those
“herein granted.”
c) Article II grants the president “the executive Power” and describes those powers very
generally.
1.
Implied, Inherent
2.
Emergency Powers
2. Competing Constituencies
3. Competing Calendars
4. Competing Campaigns
SOURCES OF DISCORD CONT…
Gridlock continued…
5. Divided Government
6. Public Support
a) Public opinion of the presidency greatly influences Congress
b) Natural Disasters
c) Foreign and Domestic attacks
7. Majorities
a) Senate’s filibuster power, president’s veto, and the Senate’s treaty approval
responsibilities make supermajorities necessary.
i.
60 votes to end a filibuster
ii.
2/3rds of Senate present must agree on a proposed treaty
iii. 2/3rds supermajority in both House and Senate to override a presidential veto
• Power Struggle
WAR POWER
• Congress – declare war
• President – wage war as commander in chief
• Congress, arguably, has given away its war powers to the president
• Post Vietnam War
• Congress enacted the War Powers Resolution (1973) which declared a
president may only commit the armed forces of the United States…
1. After a declaration of war by Congress
2. Specific statutory authorization
3. In a national emergency
i.
Must report to Congress within 48 hours of committing troops
ii.
Unless Congress declares war, the troop commitment must be ended within 60 days
APPOINTMENT AND CONFIRMATION POWER
• Senatorial approval of key presidential nominees
• Dept. Secretaries, senior military officials, ambassadors, Supreme Court
justices
• Senatorial Courtesy - unwritten political custom whereby
the president consults the senior U.S. Senator of his political party of a
given state before nominating any person to a federal vacancy within that
Senator's state.
• Recess appointments – the president is allowed to appoint an individual to a
Senate-confirmed position if the Senate is not in session. Position only valid
until the end of the congressional session that begins in the year following the
recess appointment.
EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
• The presidential right to keep executive communications confidential,
especially if they relate to national security
• Nixon and Watergate
• Claimed executive privilege was not subject to review by Congress or the
courts
• Executive privilege is not above the law
• United States vs Nixon (1974)
• Stated there is a privilege but it may be contested.
• 8-0 vote against Nixon
EXECUTIVE ORDER
• A presidential directive that has the force of law
• May be challenged in courts, and it can be overturned by subsequent
presidents.
• Issued more than 13,000 executive orders
• Japanese internment during WWII
• Protection of federal lands as “national monuments”
• Creation of Office of Homeland Security
• Often used by Presidents in split-governments
VETO
• Veto - rejection by a president or governor of legislation passed by
a legislature
• Pocket veto - exercised by the president after Congress has
adjourned; if the president takes no action for ten days the bill
becomes law. If Congress adjourns during the 10 day period the
bill does not become law and is not returned to Congress.
• Impoundment – presidential refusal to allow an agency to spend
funds authorized and approved by Congress
• Limited by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control
Act (1974)
• Line item veto – right of an executive to veto parts of a bill approved by a
legislature without having to veto the entire bill.
• Declared unconstitutional at the Federal level
PRESIDENTIAL RESOURCES
• Political Resources
• Mandate – a power granted by consensus, typically voting
• Level of public approval
• Number of seats the Presidential party occupies in Congress
• Personal Resources
• Time, energy, information
• There is a time and place for everything
• Lobbying at key points in the legislative process
POLICY MAKING CYCLE
• Cycle of decreasing influence – loss of public opinion over time
and Congressional seats
• Cycle of increasing effectiveness – Presidents almost always get
better at their job over time
Who’s got
the power?