Week 5- Constitutional: The Presidency

Directions: View the video below (rough transcript provided) and then take the 10-question quiz. There is no time limit and you may attempt the quiz up to two times. Your highest score will be recorded.

Talking Points

• How is the President elected?

• The Framers of the Constitution settled on an Electoral College to decide who would be president, thus satisfying both large and small states

• This is tied to the Census and Apportionment of Representatives. Here’s how it works:

• Each state chooses its own electors (Representatives + Senators)

• There are 538 electoral votes in the Electoral College (435 congressional districts + 3 electors for D.C. + 100 senators)

• Each state holds a popular election for President and Vice President (in effect voting for electors)

• Electors then meet in each state capital and cast their ballots for president and vice president

• Electoral votes are counted before a joint session of Congress w/the President of the Senate announcing the winner

• 270 electoral votes needed to win

• In the event of a tie in the Electoral College for president, the election goes to the House of Representatives to vote by state

• In the event of a tie in the Electoral College for vice-president, the election goes to the Senate with each senator receiving one vote

• The Framers limited the President’s powers. How?

• The term of office was set at 4 years.

• George Washington set the precedent of serving no more than 2 terms

• 22nd Amendment constitutionally limited president to 2 terms in 1951 (due to FDR being elected 4 times)

• The President was given limited constitutional powers

• Commander-in-Chief of the military (not a military rank, again due to George Washington who resigned his commission)

• Commission officers of the military

• Grant reprieves and pardons for federal offences (no check on this by Congress)

• Convene special sessions of Congress

• Receive ambassadors (by implication giving the president the power to make foreign policy because he decides which ambassadors to recognize and which to ignore, as well as which countries to send our ambassadors to)

• Faithfully execute the laws

• Wield the “executive power”

• Negotiate treaties

• The President shares executive powers with the Senate by its power of “advice & consent”

• Appointments of high officials (cabinet members, federal judges, etc.)

• Treaties

• What is the executive branch comprised of?

• The White House Office

• This is the “West Wing” where the president’s closest assistants have offices in the White House

• The people of the “West Wing” oversee the political & policy interests of the president

• They are not confirmed by the Senate and can be hired & fired at the president’s will

• The Executive Office of the President

• Agencies in the Executive office report directly to the president & perform staff services for him

• Senate confirmation required

• Office of Management & Budget (OMB)

• Assembles the budget for the president

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

• Council of Economic Advisers

• Office of Personnel Management

• Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

• The Cabinet (15 Departments)

• Composed of the Secretaries of the executive branch departments and the attorney general

• Secretaries become advocates for their departments, but also serve at the president’s will (recall the Tenure of Office Act, Cabinet Secretaries must be confirmed by the Senate, but can be fired by the President)

• Independent agencies and commissions

• The president appoints members of agencies that have quasi-independent status

• Heads of independent agencies (Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Product Safety Commission) serve for a fixed term and can be removed only for cause

• Executive agencies (Postal Service and all cabinet departments) have heads that can be removed at any time

• How powerful is the President?

• With limited constitutional power, presidents must rely heavily on their power of persuasion

• Presidents have 3 audiences to persuade

• Fellow politicians and leaders in the nation’s capital

• Party activists and officials outside of Washington

• The general public

• The president can use his national constituency to enlarge his powers

• Presidents try to transform popularity into congressional support for their programs

• Weak party loyalty

• Congressmen have relationships with their constituency

• However, Congress often tends to avoid political risks of opposing a popular president’s legislative agenda

• Presidents are most popular during the “honeymoon” period, but popularity declines as the term continues

• Most often the president’s party loses seats in Congress at mid-term elections

• A president’s popularity can be hurt by a sluggish economy, scandal and an unpopular war

• National emergencies, such as 9/11 can temporarily spike a president’s popularity

• Presidential power to say “No”

• Veto

• The president can send a veto message to Congress within 10 days of the bill’s passage

• A veto can be passed with a 2/3 override (Congress rarely overrides vetoes)

• A bill that is not signed or  vetoed within 10 days while Congress is still in session becomes law automatically w/o the president’s signature

• A pocket veto occurs when the president does not sign the bill within 10 days and Congress has already adjourned; the bill does not become law

• Attempts to pass a line-item veto were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1996

• Executive Privilege: Confidential communications b/t the president and his advisers do not have to be disclosed

• Justification for this practice is separation of powers & the president’s need for candid advice

• The Watergate scandal led to U.S. v. Nixon in which the Supreme Court declared that executive privilege is not absolute and held that the Oval Office tapes implicating the president must be turned over to Congress