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Powers of the President (Proposing Legislation (The president proposes…
Powers of the President
Sign Legislation
When a bill has gone through congress, it goes to the president's desk. He will then usually sign this bill into law
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Proposing Legislation
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This is usually done through the annual State of Union Address, when the president addresses a joint session of Congress. The president then sets out a legislative agenda for the coming year.
The president can propose legislation at any time by calling a press conference or making an announcement at a public event.
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Submit the Annual Budget
The Office of Management and Budget, which is part of the President's executive branch, draws up the annual federal budget.
This is then submitted to Congress which causes a long bargaining process between the president and congress
This bargaining goes on even longer in cases like 2012 when there was a Republican Congress and democrat president (Obama)
Veto Legislation
The regular veto is a much used presidential weapon and the threat can be a bargaining tool eg. Trump threatened to veto a bill that would not give him enough funding to build his wall on the Mexico border. He did however back down. Obama used 12 vetoes altogether.
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To veto a bill, presidents must veto the whole bill, return it within 10 working days and include a veto message explaining why.
Congress may either accept the veto or try to override it. If they try to override it, this takes a 2/3 majority in both houses which is extremely difficult. Obama had one veto overturned, on a bill that would allow 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
The president can also use a pocket veto. If congress is about to finish its term, any bills not signed will not be passed unlike normally when it automatically passes after 10 days. Obama used one that would have allowed banks to send houses into foreclosure more easily. It's usually done on controversial issues.
Act as Chief Executive
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This is too much for one person, so the president delegates the day-to-day running to different heads of deparments eg. Clinton was Obama's secretary of state
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Nominate Federal Judges
The president must make hundreds of appointments, for the Supreme Court and for the federal trial and appeal courts
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Obama's appointment of Garland was blocked by the Republican Senate as they felt it was too biased towards liberals. As a result, Trump got to appoint Neil Gorsuch
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Treaties
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For example, Obama negotiated the START treaty with Russia which was a major nuclear arms agreement
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