This includes a summary of the topic in the USA course - The US constitution and federalism and The Presidency. It includes 9 detailed essay plans as well as multiple summary tables for the course.
Includes present examples from the 2021 USA Edexcel Politics textbook
Powers of the President
Formal Powers of the President
The president is head of state and head of government. The Foundling fathers feared a tyranny of
executive branch
Role of • Chief public representative of America who carries out ceremonial and diplomatic
Head of duties
State • Important during national tragedies
• George Bush following the attacks on USA 11 September 2001 - addressed nation
from Oval Office
• Trump played this role less successfully during the COVID19 pandemic and the
national reaction to George Floyd's death 2020
• This role allows the president to exert authority - the position commands cultural
respect which allows them to project their leadership of the nation
• Engage with media platforms to facilitate this role - Obama was the first president
to use Twitter and president trump was arguably the first Twitter president - he set
the agenda and bypassed traditional media and the White House press corps - as
head of state he used twitter to engage the nation and the world on topics as
diverse as his impeachment and relations with North Korea
Role as • President is chief executive and head of the executive branch of federal
Head of government - granted by the constitution
Governme • Formal powers are the presidents tasks, functions or duties - enumerated powers
nt as their written in Article 2
Formal Details of these powers
powers
Executive The president is the chief executive of the federal government and prepares the
powers annual budget although it must be passed by Congress
Legislativ The president proposes legislation to Congress and the president signs legislation
e powers passed by Congress to make it into law. The president can veto legislation passed by
Congress
Appointm The president nominates officials to the executive branch but they must be confirmed
ent by the Senate and he nominates all federal judges including the Supreme Court
powers justices when vacancies arise however the senate must confirm all these nominations
Foreign The president is the commander in chief of the U S military and can initiate military
affairs action although only Congress can declare war
powers
The The president can pardon someone who has acknowledged their guilty of a federal
power of crime, but not someone who has been impeached
the
pardon
Executive Powers
Acting as • The article two grants president all executive powers - he is in charge of running
Chief the branch of federal government
Executive • Much of the day-to-day running is delegated to those who work in federal
government department and agencies - known as the federal bureaucracy - the
executive office of the president helps coordinate the work of the federal
government
Submitting • The office of management and budget draws up the annual federal budget for the
the annual president, it is part of the bureaucracy which is known as the executive office of the
budget president EXOP
• The president submits budget to Congress and there is a lengthy bargaining
process, especially in divided governments, has caused gridlock and government
shut-downs
• Budget shutdown = 35 days 2021 – Trump’s budget was not accepted by the House
of Representatives (mainly due to his wall proposal) which led to a government
shutdown
• The president can propose the budget however it’s up to congress to agree and
pass it
Legislative • The president proposes legislation to Congress often in the annual state of the
,powers Union address
• The president also proposes legislation by calling a press conference or making an
announcement at a public event for example 2018, trump used his state of the
Union address to promise a crackdown on immigration, keeping open Guantanamo
Bay and bolstering the USA's nuclear arsenal
Signing • Once bills passed through legislative process in Congress, they come to the
legislation president who can sign the bill into law
Vetoing • The president can veto legislation, a much-used presidential weapon, even the
legislation threat of veto is a bargaining tool
• Since Washington to Trump there have been over 1500 regular vetoes
• Congress may try to override the president’s veto but this is rarely successful
• During Obama's 2 terms, 12 regular vetoes
• Only one of Obama's vetoes were overturned - 2016 he vetoed the justice against
sponsors of Terrorism Act which would have allowed families of victims of the
terrorist attacks on 2001 to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for any role they
played in the plot
• Obama vetoed because he said the legislation would undermine core U S interests
and create complications in diplomatic relations
• The congressional override wasn't a surprise to the president as the legislation
passed through both houses on a near unanimous vote
• Trump used his regular veto power 10 times and his ninth was overridden by
Congress
• The president has the power of pocket veto used at the end of a congressional
session - may only be used at the end of a legislative session whereby bills not
signed are lost
• These vetoes can't be overridden by Congress - George Bush used 15 pocket
vetoes
Appointment powers
Nominatin • The president nominates officials to the executive branch, most importantly the 15
g heads of executive department such as treasury commerce state and agriculture
executive • Biden 2021 administration - Janet Yellen as secretary of the treasury
branch • There are also lower-level officials in these departments and ambassadors, agency
officials heads - the Senate must confirm all these appointments with a simple majority
vote, appointments continue to be made throughout the president’s term of office
Nominatin • The federal Supreme Court, the federal trial district an appeal circuit courts
g all • All judicial appointments are for life and must be confirmed by a simple majority in
federal the Senate
judges • Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme
Court judges
Recess • The president has this power which allows the president to make temporary
appointme appointments to vacancies which would usually require senate approval which he
nts cant get as the senate is in recess – these appointments expire at the end of the
next session of senate and the president must then formally nominate the person
he chose temporarily or pick someone else – Obama had 32 recess appointments
Foreign Policy
Acting as • Particularly important in the 1940s to 1980s as presidents was seen as a highly
commande significant role as commander in chief of the armed forces e.g. Richard Nixon in
r in chief Vietnam
• After the demise of the Soviet Union and breakup of the communist bloc in Eastern
Europe - the post Cold War era saw a reduction of the presidents command in chief
role
• 1991-2001 brought no significant foreign policy engagements however 2001
changed all that and Bush found himself thrown into a wartime president role and
Barack Obama was involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria and managed a
highly sensitive relationships with Russia and Cuba
• Trump increasingly complained of the cost of the country being world policeman
and criticised NATO for not paying enough towards defence - in 2019 he with drew
troops from Syria and Afghanistan
• Biden with drew troops from Afghanistan in 2021
, • Congress is less strong in checking the presidents foreign powers, Congress is
power to declare war hasn't been used since 1941
• The president now asked Congress to authorise the use of troops and it also passed
authorising resolutions in 1991 and 2002 before US troops were used in Iraq
• Congress has the power of the purse which checks presidential war making but isn't
always effective
• The president always has access to the nuclear codes
Negotiatin • Nuclear arms treaty with Russia Obama
g treaties • The presidents power is checked by the Senate who ratifies treaties with a 2/3
majority
• In the 20th century, the Senate rejected 7 treaties such as bill Clintons
comprehensive test ban treaty
Pardons • Presidents vary in the use of the pardon, Clinton pardoned 140 people on his final
day in office such as Mark Rich whose former wife had made a large monetary
donation to Clintons election campaign and gave expensive personal gifts to
Clinton
• Obama pardoned 70 people in his first seven years however pardoned 142 in his
last month of office, overall 212
• Trump initially used it sparingly with only 25 pardons in his first three years that
was criticised for granting clemency with well connected offenders who hadn't filed
petitions with the office of the pardon attorney in the Justice Department
• Trump sometimes sought counsel from legally unorthodox sources such as Kim
Kardashian persuaded him to pardon Alice Marie Johnson who served 22 years for a
non-violent drug trafficking crime
• In his final months in office trump pardoned former political associate such as
Roger stone
The Vice President
The Role • Taking over as president if necessary
of the Vice • Nine vice presidents have become president after the death or resignation such as
president Lyndon Johnson became president 1963 after Kennedy was assassinated and
Gerald Ford 1974 after Nixon’s resignation
• 25th amendment allows the vice president to become acting president if the
president is declared as disabled
• During trump's final days as president after the attack on the capital, many
Democrats in Congress try to persuade Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment
and declare himself acting president but they weren't successful
Acting as • The vice president can cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie, very rare
the • Perform this function that divided president will attend the chamber, three have
presiding used this power
officer of • Mike Pence 2017 to 2020 made 13 tiebreaking votes, more than any other in
the Senate history whereas Biden never used this power and became the first price president
to serve two full terms and never cast a tie breaking vote - mike pence tiebreak
education secretary on Betsy DeVos 2017
• March 2021, vice president Kamala Harris made three tie break votes such as a
motion to proceed on the American rescue plan act
Presiding • Until January 2021, this was a ceremonial moment when the vice president opened,
over the counted and announced the Electoral College votes cast in each state capital and
counting Washington DC the previous month in front of a joint session of Congress
of the • This was a ceremonial event that president trump attempted to use to overturn the
Electoral result of the 2020 election after falsely alleging that there was widespread fraud
College • Trump's final gambit was to try and pressure his own vice president to use this
votes ceremony to change the election outcome
• Pence chose to abide by the constitutional order and ignore the pleadings of his
president
• The influence of the vice president depends on how much power the president
allows the holder
• Trump demanded subservience which caused Mike Pence to lack the status and the
clear-cut role of his predecessors
• Joe Biden has shown that he will delegate considerable powers to Kamala Harris
, such as putting her in charge of the March 2021 leading the White House effort to
tackle the migration challenge at US southern border
Informal Powers
What? • Powers not explicitly mentioned in the constitution such as the cabinet and the
executive office of the president
• Article 2 covers formal powers, presidents have created and courts have affirmed a
whole range of informal powers that have profound influence on policy
The The cabinet isn't mentioned in the constitution and it is an advisory group set up by
cabinet the president to aid in making decisions and coordinating the work of the federal
government
Executive Contains the top staff agencies in the White House that assist the president in carrying
office of out major responsibilities in the presidential office
the
president
White The personal office of the president within EXOP, containing the staff who facilitates
House the presidents communication with Congress, department an agency heads, the press
office and public
National Part of the EXOP, the NSC is the president official forum for deliberating national
Security security and foreign policy
Council
Office of The office within the EXOP that reviews budget requests, legislative initiatives and
managem proposed rules and regulations from the executive departments and agencies
ent and
budget
Powers of The president uses personal influence, authority of office and political capital and
persuasio makes deals to convince key political actors to support him
n
Executive Executive orders are issued as a form of direct authority, they are often issued by
orders presidents frustrated by congressional resistance to their agenda as an alternative to
legislation
Executive Executive agreements are an agreement reached between the president and a foreign
agreeme nation and are often used as alternatives to formal treaties to avoid the difficult
nts process of getting a treaty ratified by Congress
Signing These are statements issued by the president on signing a bill which may challenge
statemen specific provisions of the bill on constitutional or other grounds
ts
Electoral The larger the presidents electoral mandate at the last election, the greater is their
mandate chance of success in achieving their legislative mandate, the bigger the president
share of the vote, the greater their legitimacy
Public Elections measure popularity in a snapshot on Election Day but the presidents public
approval approval rating can be important in terms of their ability to get things done
National National events can affect presidential power, enhancing or weakening the president's
events position in relation to Congress, the States and their personal approval ratings
The Cabinet
Historical • An advice-giving group which is selected by the president, there are 15 executive
backgroun department heads as well as the vice president and other officials such as the
d White House chief of staff and the director of the office of management and budget
• The cabinet isn't mentioned in the constitution, but does state that the president
may require the opinion in writing of the principle officer of each of the executive
departments
• Individually, cabinet members can exercise great responsibility and autonomy in
their designated areas however as a group the cabinet is unimportant as cabinet
meetings are hardly ever held
• The president often appoints cabinet officers from policy specialists such as 2021,
Biden appointed retired army general Lloyd Austin as secretary of defence
• All cabinet appointments must be confirmed by a simple majority in the Senate and
it's unusual for the Senate to reject the nominees other than 1989 George Bush's
nomination of John tower as secretary of defence
• Each member of cabinet head a department
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