Signing statements were to reach the courts If the issue of signing statements were to reach the Supreme Court the justices are likely to rule that they are unconstitutional The justices would be likely to invoke the precedent set in Clinton V New York that states the President cannot engage it legislative activity because it violates the presentment clause by utilizing the signing statement as a line item veto The signing statement is not included in the legislative process as set forth in the Constitutions Thus it does not have any legal affect Signing statements cannot be allowed because it has potentially damaging implications for separations of power since there is no checks and balances on signing statements How might Congress counter the President s powers in diplomatic situations Congress has many options First the Senate can counter the President s power by refusing to ratify a treaty Secondly Congress can utilize its power of the purse and refuse to fund the Presidential initiatives Moreover they can pass legislation outlawing aid to X country for Y purpose as they did with the Boland Amendment Also utilizing the power of the purse Congress can set restrictions on the length of time by denying funding How would the recent Court decision on recess appointments change the nomination process The recent court decision on Recess Appointments that nullified the decisions of the National Labor Relations Board because 3 of the members were appointed in Recess unconstitutionally and therefore the NLRB did not have the required Quorum to rule Noel Canning v NLRB Said a recess only occurs between Congresses This llimits President s ability to make recess appointments hence giving Senate Congress more power because they can take political hostages Likewise it eliminates one of the President s option to appoint nominees to positions when the Senate is taking nominees hostage This will likely lead to the situation where many Federal Judgeship and other appointed positions remain vacant As a result backlogs of cases will continue to build If the court deems certain recess appointments to be unconstitutional any action the appointee had done would be undone and anything appointee did would be undone Do the 5 dynamics seem applicable to this President at this time Why Cowardness of Congress does not seem to apply because they are challenging him as illustrates by Rand Paul s filibuster on drones during a confirmation hearing Media Technology President has edge singular voice Congress viewed as one institution bully pulpit call press conferences whenever he wants social media First tech president Obama is known for being a very charismatic speaker he was compared to JFK during the 2008 campaign He was able to mobilize the youth vote by appealing to the younger generations through his use of technology Through his social media networks he makes it seem like he is one of us so to say by making the language of his emails fb posts and tweets very casual Little guidance from the Courts allowing delegations historically favored strong executive war power Kucinich v Obama deals with Obama s refusal to remove troops from Libya after the 60 day period This case was dismissed over issue of standing Presidential control of information executive privilege The President has taken a lot of heat for refusing to release drone memos however because Congress was not acting cowardly Rand Paul Obama releases secret drone memo to Senate Intel Committee Still President controls when he wants to release information and what he would like to share while Congress does not have the ability to collect information like the Executive Branch TIME is on the President s side in these situations he controls when to release information What powers do you think are encompassed in Commander in Chief Why The Commander in Chief has the power to control the Armed Forces and to take actions to thwart military threats to the United States Consequently he is able to direct troops around the world and take action against treats of a potential war without a declaration of war He has the ability to make executive agreements and exercises executive privilege in time where he feels the release of information might compromise national security Under the AUMF President has broad powers to respond to anyone or anything affiliated with 9 11 What sets an executive agreement apart from a treaty An executive Agreement is an agreement between two nations that lasts as long as the two leaders are in office An executive Agreement does not require the approval of the United States Senate They are not explicitly mentioned in the constitution while treaties lasts until it is amended The power of the executive agreement was affirmed in the case U S V Belmont which ruled the President FDR s executive agreement had the full force of law Why do Presidents benefit from Omnibus bills As part of the negotiations for an Omnibus bill the President is very involved This is a very large bill that members do not have access to until the very last minutes Many a times there is a lack of attention to small details because of the pressure to sign the bill which creates an opportunity for sneaking in unpopular or previously failed legislation Bill Clinton always wanted to pass a bill including Americorps funding However the GOP always shut it down In the budget omnibus bill though Clinton snuck in Americorps funding and Congress was forced to pass it for fear of rejecting the entire bill However it may have been possible that many members who voted for the bill were not even aware that Americorps funding was in there at all Constituents Conscience and caucuses play into an omnibus bill Ever since WWII there has been a shift from constant structure to a power grab by the executive branch from the legislative branch Consequently the power grab by the President can be seen through his increased reach in war powers legislative process and diplomacy and foreign affairs These substation increase in the power of the executive is bad because it compromises the framer s vision of a government with three separate and equal branches keeping each other equal through a system of checks of balance This grab of power has been made possible by the Cowardness of Congress and little guidance from the courts Constitution Gives congress the power to declare war Article 1 Section 8 Article 2 Section II gives President executive power as Commander in Chief In our country s history