POLS 1101 Week 8 February 25 March 1 2013 Struggle for Power between President and Congress Ambition countered by ambition Strong legislature Congress was the dominant branch through the 1800s with little exception Two strong Presidents o Andrew Jackson o Abraham Lincoln Presidents make quick decisions Congress does not o During a war a strong picture is advantageous Congress is dominant but it wasn t when Lincoln was president o Lincoln was a northern Republican He chose his running mate a southern democrat in hopes of bringing all people together o When he was assassinated Andrew Johnson became president and the Republican congress was unhappy They managed to bring the power back down to Congress from the President During the 20th century Great Depression WWI WWII o During these times a powerful president was necessary o FDR LBJ Nixon In the 1800s and first half of the 20th century it was typical for the President and Congress to be of the same party o This lead to extreme policies because they all agreed o 2 examples LBJ was a democrat and had a democratic congress He had major changed in domestic policy George W Bush republican president and congress o Most of the last 35 years we have had a divided government Divided government tends to either compromise or gridlock where nothing can get done Obama has policies he wants to initiate but Congress is controlled by Republicans Vice versa House of Representatives suggests policies but Obama vetoes them Struggle for Power in the 70 s and 80 s Richard Nixon o Republican president with a democratic house and senate o He was a very strong President o Congress would pass a law Nixon would sign it but then started impounding funds o Impounding funds leaving money in the treasury which was supposed to have been spent on different things POLS 1101 Week 8 February 25 March 1 2013 o Budget and Impoundment Control Act The President MUST spend the money on what it was intended for in the law Congress tried increasing their power in the 70s Legislative Veto Congress would write a bill if they didn t like the way the president was acting They could veto the bill passed if the president didn t carry it out the way they wanted This ideas is NOT in the Constitution INS vs Chada spelling Legislative Veto Case Supreme Court said the legislative veto violates separation of powers and therefore is unconstitutional At the time there were actually about 200 laws passed that had something with legislative veto in them So Congress had to go back and rewrite all of these laws Only Congress can declare war but the President is the Commander in Chief War Powers Act if the president calls troops into action they must notify congress within 2 Congress has only declared was 5 times days and they have 60 days to get approval o If there is no approval troops will be brought back o This gives 2 months in times of need for troops but also gives 2 months for Congress to agree During the Cold War 70s and 80s there was a situation called the Iran Contra Scandal o In Nicaragua there was a group of people controlling the government who were associated with the Soviet Union o Reagan told the CIA to help those opposed to the government by giving them money and arms to overthrow the communist government Congress did not approve of this decision Bolland Amendment no government or US money can be given to another country to overthrow a government Reagan signed this o 8 Americans were taken hostage in Iran o The US policy says the United States will not negotiate with terrorists o Reagan said if we just give them money they will continue taking Americans o Reagan made this clear o Colonel North had an idea the United States would sell weapons to Iran and then they would use their leverage to release the hostages The weapons would be sold at a profit POLS 1101 Week 8 February 25 March 1 2013 of 8 million dollars which would then be given to Nicaragua to overthrow their government Why didn t Congress impeach Reagan for this o The democrats did consider it o Reagan did lie to the people on television He said he would not send money to the contras but he did He approved actions that contradicted policy but not law His aids broke the law but Reagan did not o They said his actions were wrong but he was not directly involved enough for impeachment Bill Clinton 1990s During his first 2 years he had a Democratic Congress The next 6 years were Republican There was a scandal called Whitewater o It was a land deal while he was governor where he used his influence to profit himself Independent Counsel if the executive branch is accused of wrongdoing who will investigate Usually it is FBI but they are under the executive too So an independent counsel will be called in to investigate Kenneth Star prosecutor investigated the Whitewater scandal o He looked into other scandals as well but found no wrongdoing o He investigated his sex life and found out Clinton was having an affair with the intern o Recorded conversations about the affair were given to the independent counsel o Clinton went on national television and denied it o He later explained he hadn t actually lied He said he had an affair but not relations He said this under oath Congress considered impeaching Clinton they hated him Lindsey Graham asked is this impeachment really about having an affair or were there actual crimes being committed No laws were actually broken but the Republicans said Clinton o Lied under oath perjury o Destroyed evidence o Told Monica to lie under oath in return for a very good job illegal Clinton s lawyers did not deny inappropriate behavior but there were no serious crimes The independent counsel gave 4 years of evidence to the House of Representatives o The house considered a large number of charges and narrows it down to two that they considered to be impeachable which would need 2 3 senate vote to convict If the President breaks a law he will be charged and convicted If he is impeached he will just be removed from office POLS 1101 Week 8 February 25 March 1 2013 Charges against Clinton o Perjury knowingly and intentionally giving false information under oath that is material relevant to the case at hand Clinton s lawyers said he was misleading but that is not a crime He did not directly lie under oath They also said the things he did lie about were not material to the case o Obstruction of Justice Clinton was accused of promising Monica a very good job if she lied under oath They both denied this