THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH THE LARGEST OF THE THREE BRANCHES.

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THE THE EXECUTIVE EXECUTIVE BRANCH BRANCH THE LARGEST OF THE THREE BRANCHES

Transcript of THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH THE LARGEST OF THE THREE BRANCHES.

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THE THE EXECUTIVE EXECUTIVE

BRANCHBRANCHTHE LARGEST OF THE THREE BRANCHES

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THE EXECUTIVE THE EXECUTIVE BRANCHBRANCH

• ARTICLE II – “The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”

• President – head of the Executive Branch• Qualifications – LEGAL

o 35 years oldo Natural Born Citizeno 14 years resident of US

• Common Characteristicso Maleo White (until Obama)o Christiano College educatedo Past political experience

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PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL TERMSTERMS

• President can be elected to TWO (2) FOUR YEAR TERMS (22nd Amendment)o Theoretically, can serve 10 yearso President FDR was elected 4 times

• Inaugurated on January 20th at 12noon

• Some people have called for changes in how long a President can serveo Single, non-renewable term?o No limit on being elected?

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PRESIDENTIAL MAIN PRESIDENTIAL MAIN RESPONSIBILITIESRESPONSIBILITIES

• CHIEF OF STATE – ceremonial head of government; reigns and rules

• CHIEF EXECUTIVE – designated to execute the laws of the US

• CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR – “director” of the Federal government

• CHIEF DIPLOMAT – Main architect of US foreign policy

• COMMANDER IN CHIEF – Commander of US armed forces

• CHIEF LEGISLATOR – Main architect of US public policy

• CHIEF OF PARTY – Leader of their political party• CHIEF CITIZEN – Representative of all people in US

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PAY & BENEFITSPAY & BENEFITS• Salary - $400K per year• Free housing• Fleet of aircrafts

o Air Force Oneo Marine One

• Fleet of automobiles• Free medical/vision/dental• Vacation home (Camp David)• $50K year expense allowance

o Acts as part of salary – kept if not spent.

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ORDER OF ORDER OF SUCCESSIONSUCCESSION

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Okay, but what if…Okay, but what if…• The President dies or leaves office for

any reason?• Presidential Disability

o 25th Amendment (1967)o If the President dies in office, VP Takes overo If the President is disabled while in office, VP takes over

on either the President notifying Congress, in writing, he is unable to perform the duties of the office or the VP and a majority of the Cabinet agree he is unable to perform the duties.• President can take power back at anytime by notifying

Congress, in writing, no disability exists.• VP and Cabinet may challenge on this point, giving

Congress 21 days to decide.

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THE VICE THE VICE PRESIDENTPRESIDENT

• According to the US Constitution, the VP has only two jobs:o Serve as President of the Senateo Decide any question of Presidential disability

• Often chosen for their ability to “balance the ticket” for the potential President

• If there is a Vice Presidential vacancy, the President nominates a new one with confirmation of majority of both chambers of Congress (GERALD FORD – 1973, NELSON ROCKEFELLER – 1974)

• President CANNOT fire VP during a term

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PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION & THE SUCCESSION & THE VICE PRESIDENCYVICE PRESIDENCY

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PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSIONPRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION• 47 Vice Presidents• 14 former VP’s have gone onto become President, either by

election or by succession• PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION

o Order by which a vacancy in the Presidency is filledo Began with just the POWERS of the Presidency transferring, not the

title.o Did not become the “title” of President transferring until the 25th

Amendment in 1967• Even with this, it was precedent for the VP to move up fully to the Presidency

upon a vacancy.• Began with John Tyler assuming the Presidency on the death of W.H. Harrison

in 1841o Congress fixes the order of succession following the VP

• Based upon PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION ACT OF 1947

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CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER OF SUCCESSIONCURRENT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER OF SUCCESSION

JOSEPH BIDENVice President of

the US

JOHN BOEHNERSpeaker of the

House

PAT LEAHYPresident Pro Tem

of the Senate

JOHN KERRYSecretary of State

JACOB LEWTreasury

CHUCK HAGELDefense

ERIC HOLDERAttorney General

SALLY JEWELInterior

TOM VILSACKAgriculture

PENNY PRITZKERCommerce

THOMAS PEREZLabor

SYLVIA MATTHEWS BURWELL

Health & Human Services

JULIAN CASTROHousing & Urban

Development

ANTHONY FOXXTransportation

ERNEST MONIZEnergy

ARNE DUNCANEducation

ROBERT MCDONALD

Veterans Affairs

JEH JOHNSONHomeland Security

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PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITYPRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY• 25th Amendment – sections 3 & 4 cover the problems if the

President is unable to perform their duties.o VP becomes acting President if…

• President informs Congress, in writing, “he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”

o OR…• VP and a majority of Cabinet members inform Congress, in writing, the President is

incapable of performing their duties

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PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITYPRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY• President may reclaim the office by informing Congress, in

writing, that no disability exists.• If the VP and a majority of the cabinet disagree, then

Congress must decide within 21 days who is acting President

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VICE PRESIDENCYVICE PRESIDENCY• VP has only two official duties assigned to the job.

o Decide any question of Presidential disabilityo Preside over the Senate

• Person is often chosen to act as a “President in Waiting” and to “Balance the Ticket” at the nominating convention.o “Balance the ticket” – strengthen the Presidential party ticket where the President is

weak

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VICE PRESIDENTIAL VACANCYVICE PRESIDENTIAL VACANCY• If there is a vacancy in the Vice Presidency, the President has

the right to nominate a replacement.o Replacement must be confirmed by a majority vote of both chambers of Congress

• Many people wish to see the Vice President take on a larger role

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POWERS OF THE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENTPRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE – DIPLOMATIC – MILITARY – LEGISLATIVE – JUDICIAL

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Executive PowersExecutive Powers Executive – Execute the laws of the United States

Oath of Office Command of the Constitution

Ordinance – Power to issue executive orders Executive Order – regulation, rule, directive issued by the President that has

the effect of law Appointment – power to appoint high level government positions with Senate

consent Ambassadors & diplomats Cabinet members & their top aides Heads of independent agencies such as NASA & EPA & FBI All federal judges, US Marshals, & attorneys All officers in the Armed forces

USE OF SENATORIAL COURTESY Removal - power to remove previously appointed people in high level positions

Andrew Johnson / Tenure of Office Act / 1867

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DIPLOMATIC & MILITARY DIPLOMATIC & MILITARY POWERSPOWERS

• TREATIES – agreement between two or more sovereign stateso President, through Secretary of State, negotiates theseo Must be approved by the Senate (2/3 vote)o Same legal standing as a law

• EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS – agreement between two or more heads of stateo Basically the same as a treatyo Many flow from legislation already in Congresso DOES NOT require Senate approval

• RECOGNITION – acknowledge the legal existence of another state / governmento DOES NOT mean approval (Soviet Union, Cuba, Taliban. Etc)o Can be used as a political tool too (Truman & Israel in 1948)

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MILITARY POWERSMILITARY POWERS• Commander In Chief

o Undeclared War• Remember, CONGRESS declares war• Still, the President has ample power to use the military anytime.• Hundreds of armed conflicts without Congressional consent

o Congressional Resolutions• Congress will often enact “joint resolutions” authorizing the President to use

“necessary force” for international criseso War Powers Resolution (1973)

• Within 48 hours of committing troops anywhere, the President must detail the scope and length of the actions to Congress

• Combat commitment must end within 60 days, unless Congress authorizes for another 30 days

• Congress may recall troops at anytime with a concurrent resolution• Never been used – must have a President and Congress at odds over troop

use.

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LEGISLATIVE POWERSLEGISLATIVE POWERS• RECOMMEND LEGISLATION

o Ask Congress to consider special areas. o Offer up bills for consideration

• VETO POWERo Power to veto (cancel) a bill passed by Congresso Can be overridden with 2/3 vote both chambers

• LINE ITEM VETOo Allows President to veto only a part of a billo Passed in 1996; ruled unconstitutional in 1998

• SPECIAL SESSIONo Can call Congress “back to work” if the need arises. (prorogue)

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JUDICIAL POWERSJUDICIAL POWERS

• POWERS OF CLEMENCY (leniency)o REPRIEVE – Postponement of the execution of a

sentenceo PARDON – Legal forgiveness of a crime

• Ford – Nixon – Watergate o COMMUTATION – Reduce the length or amount of a

sentence or fineo AMNESTY – Blanket pardon given to group violators

• Carter – 1977 – Vietnam draft evaders

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THE THE PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL

JOB JOB DESCRIPTIONDESCRIPTION

WHAT EXACTLY DOES HE DO?

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PRESIDENTIAL DUTIESPRESIDENTIAL DUTIES• CHIEF OF STATE

• CHIEF EXECUTIVE

• CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR

• CHIEF DIPLOMAT

• COMMANDER IN CHIEF

• CHIEF LEGISLATOR

• CHIEF OF PARTY

• CHIEF CITIZEN

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CHIEF OF STATECHIEF OF STATE• The President is the ceremonial head of the government

o Embodiment/symbol of all people in the nationo “Personal embodiment and representative of their dignity and majesty” (W.H. Taft)

• In some countries, the Chief of State is a figurehead (Queen of England)o Not the USo President “reigns” and has political power

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CHIEF EXECUTIVECHIEF EXECUTIVE• President serves as the recipient of the “executive power”

granted by the Constitutiono Article II

• As Chief Executive, President serves as the leader of the most powerful office in the world

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CHIEF ADMINISTRATORCHIEF ADMINISTRATOR• Director of the United States “Federal Government”

employees

• Largest governmental machine in the world

• Director of over 3 million governmental employees

• Directs a budget of over $2.5 trillion a year

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CHIEF DIPLOMATCHIEF DIPLOMAT• Main architect of foreign policy

• What the President does/says is followed world wide

• President is the chief spokesperson to the rest of the world

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COMMANDER IN CHIEFCOMMANDER IN CHIEF• President serves as director of all branches of the United States

Military

• All members of the military are subject to direct order of the President

• This ties in closely with Chief Diplomat

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CHIEF LEGISLATORCHIEF LEGISLATOR• The President is the main architect of the US domestic public

policy

• President sets much of the overall shape of the Congressional agendao Initiate, request, demand much of the legislation Congress will work on

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CHIEF OF PARTYCHIEF OF PARTY• Acknowledged leader of the political party

• Able to lead/set the agenda for the political party

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CHIEF CITIZENCHIEF CITIZEN• Representative of all people of the country

• Expected to work for and represent the needs of the public

• “The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That is the least of it. It is preeminently a place of moral leadership.”o FDR

• LBJ – Vietnam

• Nixon - Watergate