Checks on Presidential Power

Announcements:

Junior Boys: Do you love government? Want to gain leadership skills? Then Missouri Boys State may be right up your alley. There will be an informational meeting about this 8 day experience on Friday, Nov. 22 during 3rd hour. If you're interested in attending the info meeting, please send Mrs. Eikel an email and she will send a pass for you.

READING: 341-378 in Edwards

UNIT TWO IDENTIFICATION TERMS

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Today's Essential Question: How can presidential powers be limited?


Learning Standards:
CON-4.B: Explain how the president’s agenda can create tension and frequent confrontations with Congress.

CON-4.B.1: The potential for conflict with the Senate depends upon the type of executive branch appointments, including:

• Cabinet members 
• Ambassadors 
• White House staff 

CON-4.B.2: Senate confirmation is an important check on appointment powers, but the president’s longest lasting influence lies in life-tenured judicial appointments.

CON-4.B.3: Policy initiatives and executive orders promoted by the president often lead to conflict with the congressional agenda.

Limits on Presidential Power
Although the President has many powers, both formal and informal, that does not mean that the President is all-powerful. In our constitutional system of separation of powers (more correctly shared powers) and checks and balances, there are limits to what the President can do. Today, we will look at some of the checks on Presidential power.

In your group, brainstorm the ways that Congress can limit the President. You should be able to come up with a minimum of 5-6.

The President's policy agenda and Congress's legislative agenda sometimes are at odds.

The judicial branch can also serve as an effective check on presidential power and several cases have addressed potential abuse of power.  Here are six cases that address presidential power.

Important Cases:

1. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 1952

2. US v. Nixon, 1974

3. Clinton v. Jones, 1997

4. Clinton v. City of New York, 1998

5. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 2004

6. NLRB v. Canning, 2014

Using Oyez (or other reputable websites), research your assigned case, focusing on

• the facts of the case
• the constitutional question
• the Court's opinion & rationale

You will be sharing your findings with the rest of the class.

Chief Legislator & Chief Executive

Announcements:
Junior Boys: Do you love government? Want to gain leadership skills? Then Missouri Boys State may be right up your alley. There will be an informational meeting about this 8 day experience on Friday, Nov. 22 during 3rd hour. If you're interested in attending the info meeting, please send Mrs. Eikel an email and she will send a pass for you.

READING: 341-378 in Edwards

UNIT TWO IDENTIFICATION TERMS
________________________________________________

Today's Question: How have presidential powers been enhanced beyond those expressed in the Constitution?


Learning Standards:
CON-4.A: Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda

CON-4.A.1: Presidents use powers and perform functions of the office to accomplish a policy agenda.

CON-4.A.2: Formal and informal powers of the president include:

• Vetoes and pocket vetoes – formal powers that enable the president to check Congress
• Foreign policy – both formal (Commander-in-Chief and treaties) and informal (executive agreements) powers that influence relations with foreign nations
• Bargaining and persuasion – informal power that enables the president to secure congressional action
• Executive orders – implied from the president’s vested executive power, or from power delegated by Congress, executive orders are used by the president to manage the federal government
• Signing statements – informal power that informs Congress and the public of the president’s interpretation of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president

Chief Legislator & Chief Executive

Among the various roles the president has, two of the most important are Chief Legislator and Chief Executive. As Chief Legislator, the President lays out his legislative agenda, typically through the State of the Union address and other public appearances. As Chief Executive, the President works to ensure that the laws are carried out, and often uses executive orders to help shape the bureaucracy and its enforcement.

Chief Legislator:

1. Delivers State of the Union



2. Proposes budget

3. Recommends other legislation (health care, gun control, school choice, etc)

4. Signs bills into law
*Use of signing statements? Trump example

5. Veto power over Congress

6. Line-item veto: Can the President veto certain parts of a bill?
Clinton v. City of New York, 1998


Chief Executive

1. Responsible for enforcing the law

2. Appoint people to key administrative/bureaucratic positions

3. Use executive orders (directives issued by the President that do not need congressional approval)

• Carry the same weight as laws
• May change with new president
• Orders for the bureaucracy on how to enforce
• Examples: Japanese-American internment, integration of the military, Emancipation Proclamation, stem-cell research, immigration reform

Executive Orders 101: What Are They and How Do Presidents Use Them?

Videos for Review






Limitations

Federal Judge Halts Trump's Immigration Order

How Obama has used his executive orders compared to other presidents

Trump Travel Ban Executive Order

Senate Passes Ban on Transfer of Guantanamo Bay Prisoners