U. S. President: Powers and Privileges. The constitution grants few specific powers to the president. Indeed, most of article II, which deals with modalities rather than what the president can do. For decades, president authorities have increased through the idea of “inherent powers” as well as through legislative action. However, during the recent government crisis, many citizens were surprised that the Congress and the Supreme Court can exercise a huge oversight on U. S. president role, and without their support he has relatively little power. In this paper we will discuss the power of the U. S.
President and his privileges as well as its limits. Empower by Article II of the Constitution, the U. S. Presidents has numerous powers and privileges in order to allow him to fulfill his roles. His duty varies from addressing the state of the union to receive foreign head of state. As the commander in chief, the President commands the U. S. Armed forces and can under specific situation deploy armed forces to oversee in a wide of military operations. The U. S. president, as the Chief Diplomat and Chief of State, has the authority to negotiate treaties with other states as well appoints ambassadors and onsuls.
However, these treaties and appointment has to be either ratified or confirmed by the senate. In addition to those enumerated powers, presidents have claimed they have certain inherent powers to do whatever has to be done to fulfill their responsibilities as leaders. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln all extended their enumerated powers, and setting a precedent for later presidents to do likewise. Before taking office, and with the supervision of Office of Personal Management, the U. S. president has to appoint about 7000 position listed in
Plum book across the executive branch with the advice and consent of the senate. Although U. S. President has enormous duties, they also have many resources to aid them in order to carry out those duties. These include the Executive Branch establishment, which contains the White House staff, key aids, and the Executive Office of the President, which consists of the OMB, Council of Economic Advisors, etc. These appointments are not subject to review by the senate. However, since 1995, it is a required to submit annually to the Congress a list of every White house office employee with their respective salary.
On other matter, the U. S. President can exercise Executive clemency has been given by the Article II of the Constitution. This power can be done as a pardon, which will waive all punishment for an acknowledged crime. However, the person accepting the pardon must accept that the crime took place. Additionally, the president can issue a blanket amnesty which forgives an entire group of individuals for a crime. President Carters offered such amnesty to Vietnam War draftees who flied outside the U. S. Additionally, Presidents could use inherent powers during emergencies or national atastrophe.
Using such power it will allow FEMA to bypass bureaucracy rules. These powers can be used both at home and oversees. Although, the Senate and the Supreme Court exercise an oversee role on the president as specified in Article l, section 8 of the Constitution. During the recent government shutdown the congress exerclsea nls power to aec10e tne Increase 0T tne aeot celling. unTortunately, It was taken out of it context into a political conflict. Moreover, the Supreme Court can also exercise an extreme power to make sure that president decisions are constitutional.
During President Carters Era, the Supreme court overall an executive privilege to President Nixon, whom tried to withhold information from public Justifying that such privilege doesn’t apply in the case where the president is attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. In Conclusion, our founding fathers devised the power in order to prevent a majority from ruling with an iron fist. This separation of power between the president and congress provided a system known as Check and balances. Unfortunately, these powers were used recently for political agenda rather than for the benefits of the Americans.
