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Presidential Powers, Informal Powers, Implied Powers- powers we accept the…
Presidential Powers
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2) Chief Diplomat
- The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed back in 2014.
- The Senate ratifies treaties, with a 2/3 supermajority
- In 2012, the Senate failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Obama signed, this treaty was never ratified into US Law despite 61 Senators voting for it.
- Similarly, the Kyoto Accord, which Clinton signed, failed to make its way into US Law because the Senate failed to ratify it.
3) Nominate Ambassadors, Executive Branch Officials, and Supreme Court judges
- Trump was able to nominate 3 Conservative judges, shifting the long-term balance of the court.
- Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, was not heard by the GOP-controlled Senate, despite them previously praising Garland in the past.
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5) Chief Legislator
- President can submit legislation either formally- by officially proposing legislation to Congress, or informally, through a State of the Union address (which is mentioned in the constitution).
- They can submit the annual budget
- Can veto legislation after Congress has passed the law.
- Biden has issued 9 vetoes in the 118th Congress- and this can be owed to the fact that Biden faces a divided government in the House.
- HOWEVER, Congress can override this veto with a 2/3 supermajority. This was used to overturn Obama's veto that looked to prevent Congressional attempts to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in US courts.
6) Presidential Pardon- can commute/end sentences and exonerate innocent people who have been wrongly convicted
Trump pardoned many at the end of his presidency, including those who were involved in the Russia investigation like Paul Manafort, and others who were accused of raising campaign funds illegally, including Steve Bannon and Dinesh D'Souza
- However, the president cannot pardon people who have been convicted at the state level.
- It is also highly unlikely that a president will attempt to pardon himself (potentially Trump if he win re-election?)
Informal Powers
Power of Persuasion
Persuasion can take many forms, such as:
- Media pressure
- Phone calls
- Visits to the White House
- Earmarks (attached to bills which give specific members of Congress money for their Congressional districts, Biden's Infrastructure Bill was successful in large part due to the number of promises bestowed to GOP lawmakers)
HOWEVER
- The ability to persuade depends on the individuals themselves
- In the age of hyper-partisanship, the opposition is less likely to be convinced despite there being a persuasive president.
Cabinet
- Not mentioned in the constitution, so the president has full control in terms of picking is cabinet, and does not need to listen to then if they wish to.
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Implied Powers- powers we accept the president has despite them not being explicitly mentioned in the constitution
- The most significant direct/assumed power is Executive Orders- these allow the president to implement existing law.
- Biden issued an Executive Order on mask mandates for the federal workforce at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- However, Executive Orders are acts without Congress and are often seen as lacking legitimacy.
- Biden's College Debt Relief Action plan was struck down by the Supreme Court for exceeding powers in 2023
- The Supreme Court ruled that it was only Congress that was allowed to pass money bills. Therefore the president was exceeding his powers in that regard.
Signing Statements - Words attached to a bill once it has become law by the president. Advises federal bureaucracy on how to comply with the law.
- Bush Jr used a signing statement to advise the federal government to not comply with some sections of the torture ban.
Executive Agreements - allow the president to sign treaties with other countries, and circumvent the Senate's treaty ratification powers.
- For example, the Iran Nuclear Deal was an example of an Executive Agreement.
- The issue with this is that they can easily be changed by future presidents. Obama entered the Paris Climate Change Agreement through an Executive Agreement, Trump took the United States out, and Biden reinstated them back in- while all using Executive Agreements.