POLS 206 10th Edition Lecture 11 Constitutional Powers of the President Outline of Last Lecture I In the News a Cruz has 21 hour pseudo filibuster b Shutdown still unclear II Gerrymandering a Inefficient geographic concentration of voters a Cracking and packing III How a bill becomes a law a MH or MS introduces bill to full chamber b Majority party leadership assigns bill to a committee c Committee chair 1 This is where most bills die d Sub committee i Rule sends to floor ii If it passes in the house it must also pass in the senate iii Then goes to president 1 10 days to decide Outline of Current Lecture I Current events a Shutdown looms on no end in sight b Debt Ceiling II Founding Fathers a How did they conceive of the presidency III Formal Presidential Powers a Constitutionally enumerated powers b Limited powers IV 19th Century Presidents V 20 21st century presidents a Why has this power grown VI Public expectations i Unlike congress the president is held accountable for large diffuse issues ii National constituency Lecture 10 Notes VII Current events a Shutdown looms on no end in sight b Republican vs tea party member c Shutdown may be protracted i Biggest worry for mainstream GOP lawmakers is a Tea Party challenge in the primaries ii Institutions are never neutral 1 Shutdown could end now 2 19 GOP MCs support a clean CR and 200 Democrats which makes a majority 3 Speaker will not bring a measure to vote unless it has a majority of party support a Power of procedure is the ultimate power b Deadline about debt ceiling is approaching i Nobody really knows what a default would mean because America has never had to do this before ii Boehner warns that the house will not pass a clean bill VIII Founding Fathers a How did they conceive of the presidency i Did not want to concentrate power in one person ii King George was a bad example of this to them 1 Basic fear of monarchies 2 However they did want leadership in extraordinary times iii Ambiguous powers to the president open to interpretation could go either way 1 Saw congress as a center pieces 2 Faithfully execute laws passed by congress IX Formal Presidential Powers a Constitutionally enumerated powers i Commander in chief 1 Military forces to protect the united states 2 Veto power 3 Executive pardons 4 Make treaties 5 Nominate justices 6 State of the union b Limited powers i Propses laws but congress approves and SC interprets ii Commander in chief 1 2 3 senate vote iii Nominates justices 1 senate confirms iv Veto laws 1 Csongressional override v Make treaties 1 2 3 senate vote vi Decentralization 1 Federalism a States have the power to decide policy for themselves 10th amendment th X 19 Century Presidents a Ceremonial head of state i Tried to build bipartisanship ii Non controversial things iii Not an activist 1 Addressed congress not the public XI 20 21st century presidents a why has this power grown i Individual leadership expansive power ii Public expectation iii Congressional delegation of authority 1 Individual leadership allows them to redefine presidential power a Commander in chief caluse i Reagan GWB and Clinton used this only talked to key senators and never actually approved wars with congress 1 Secrecy sometimes necessary 2 Rally effect b Take Care clause 2 George Washington really set the precedent a Executive privilege b Executive orders decree to bureaucracy to take action take care clause i Usually mundane like holidays but things like the Louisiana purchase and emancipation proclamation were big deals c Executive agreements i Contract between 2 or more nations ii Similar to a treaty but don t need a 2 3 vote iii Regulated to implement the agreement iv Precedent of crisis 1 Presidential control 3 Abraham Lincoln Quasi presidential dictatorship a Civil war b Power so far beyond what was normal at the time i Martial law and suspended habeas corpus ii Money unlimited iii Expanded army and navy c He admitted that this was unconstitutional but necessary to save the country XII Public expectations a Unitary office i Unlike congress the president is held accountable for large diffuse issues ii National constituency iii After the great depression the US demanded that government ensure prosperity by lowering interest rates bailouts of insolvent banks and hurricane Katrina