The supreme court recently ruled that 3 Presidential Appointments were made illegally, unanimously
agreeing that President Obama overstepped his powers.
Which begs the question, what powers does the Executive Branch actually have?
Well, let's start with the general stuff.
He has the power to veto or approve bills, pardon people, command our military, sign
treaties, nominate judges and nominate people to fill any other position whose appointments
are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution.
Meaning he appoints pretty much everybody but Congress itself.
Congress does have the right to approve his appointees, but only when they are in session.
If congress is on recess, the President can appoint whomever he wants.
This is where the court says he over stepped his powers recently.
He filled vacancies on The National Labor Relations Board without the consent of congress,
while congress was technically still in session.
They weren't actually in session, but they also weren't away long enough for them to
be considered on recess...
constitutionally speaking congress has to be out of session for 10 days for it be considered
recess.
It's a weird loophole and it's not the only weird loophole when you're talking about Presidential
Powers.
The President has the power to prepare the budget, which allows him to set much of the
agenda.
And, with congressional approval, his suggested budget can cut funding to programs he doesn't
agree with.
Though in the end, it's just a suggested budget; congress is under no obligation to answer
his request... and they usually just ignore it altogether.
The president has power of executive privilege, meaning that he can withhold information from
the public in matters of national security.
But it has to actually be a matter of national security.
Clinton tried to use this power during the Monica Lewinski scandal.
The Supreme Court didn't allow it, because hooking up with an intern is not a matter
of national security.
After that, talking about Presidential powers becomes more vague.
The President can issue executive orders.
These orders only apply to the operations of the Executive Branch, but seeing as things
like the defense department, NSA, FBI and pretty much every other influential agency
are under the Executive Branch, these can be wide reaching powers.
Executive orders don't have to be approved by congress.
The President can just make them up.
And in order to get them off the books the Supreme Court has to rule that they are unconstitutional.
When people are talking about Presidents potentially abusing their powers, executive orders are
usually what they're referring to.
During times of war or national threat we tend to see more executive orders.
FDR issued 3,728 of them, whereas Ronald Reagan issued less than 381.
Barack Obama, to date, has only issued 175.
Still, some see Obama's use of Executive orders as an overreach of his powers.
His decision to send troops into Libya without congressional consent is one good example
of one order that has garnered some criticism.
The president can also issue memorandums.
These are not as binding as Executive Orders, but they still have a wide reaching impact.
Obama for example issued a memorandum asking federal agencies to start getting at least
20% of their energy from renewable energy sources by 2020.
It's not a law, but it is a recommended change in how our government does things.
And it does happen without the consent of congress.
Lucky for us the Supreme Court can review executive orders and memorandums, and if the
president steps outside the powers granted him by the constitution, they can knock him
back in line.
Like they did with the current presidential appointee snafu.
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