Paper Example on Constitutional Powers of the Presidency

Introduction

Every four years the people of the United States indirectly elect the president through an electoral college. The United States presidential office is arguably one of the most powerful and a respected office in the world (Thrower, 2018).The presidency is headed by the president under the executive branch of the government. Under the first section of Article II of the US Constitution, the powers of the executive are vested in the president. Therefore the president becomes both the head of the government and head of the state. Additionally, he becomes the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Other than responding to the well-being of the American people the president always acts in the best interest of the country. The president also plays the predominant role of promoting the principles of democracy where he is charged with suppression of conflicts and law enforcement so that everyone coexists peacefully. These and many other roles constitute constitutional powers. We might be tempted to think that the buck stops with the president. Well, the job is not as powerful as many people perceive it to be due to the limitation of constitutional powers.

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The president is vested with the executive powers under Article II of the United States Constitution which gives him the powers to oversee and direct the entire executive branch (Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir, Spitzer, & Tolbert, 2017). Additionally, he is charged with the responsibility of faithfully executing the laws of the land. In essence, the president's hands are tied from acting contrary to the law. The appointment clause gives the president the powers to appoint and supervise principal executive officers and federal officials such as ambassadors and judges. However, the president requires congressional approval for such appointments. For instance, if a Supreme Court judge dies in office, the empty slot is supposed to be filled by the president by appointing a new member through consultation and advice from the Senate. Ginsberg et.al (2017), states that the constitution puts a system of check and balances which limits the president's appointment decisions. While the power of appointment lies between the president and the Congress, the sole power of removal from office lies with the president. This means that the president can fire any executive officer without interference from the Congress. The Congress can only limit such removals by demanding reasons for the cause of action so long as it does not interfere with the president's constitutional mandate. The president and members of the executive are privileged to enjoy immunity from prosecutions. However, the Congress has the power to remove the head of state through a vote of impeachment by the House of Representatives and trials by the Senate. In the recent decades, Presidents who preempt looming impeachment have always opted to resign to save image as in the case of President Richard Nixon.

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution provides the president with power as the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. This makes the president the highest ranking military authority with operational control over all the military branches and most powerful security agencies such as the National Security Council, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. The president can promote or demote any military officer. His orders must be obeyed because they carry the full force of the law. However, on certain occasions, the secretary of defense can legally decline presidential orders if they are not deemed wise and aligned to the national interest. For instance, if the president issues a green light for nuclear launch in a civilian territory where mass causality is inevitable the secretary of defense can decline to proceed with the order without suffering legal repercussions.

While the president derives powers to control the military at all times his powers to declare war are limited. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the constitution grants the Congress the power of declaring war when the country is under threat or attack by enemies of the states. This is also known as the War Powers Act. The president can only make decisions regarding critical military operation anywhere but receives authorization for military action from the Congress (Astor, 2010). The president also cannot change military laws or make equipment purchase decisions without the advice and consent of the Congress. Recent decades has seen many presidents violate this provision relying on the powers of their office. In 2011, Obama's decision to launch airstrikes against Libya was not based on congressional approval. Also the immediate retaliatory attacks to Iraq by George Bush after 9-11 were against the War Act (Astor, 2010).

While the Congress is charged with the responsibility of introducing and passing laws it is the president's duty to approve or reject the bills. Once the president appends his signature for turning a bill into law it takes effect immediately. There are two main constitutional provisions that dictate the president's legislative roles. The first provision is in Article II, Section 3 which requires the president to inform the Congress about the nation's progress in a "State of the Union" speech occasionally. He can also issue advice or make recommendations to Congress on how to get things done. According to Sievert & Williamson (2018), some presidents have used this provision to initiate their agendas in Congress as seen in the case of President Franklin Roosevelt.

Article I, Section 7 of the constitution grants the president legislative powers know as the veto power. This provision provides the president with powers to engage in the legislative process authoritatively. The president can manipulate the legislative process by refusing to sign bills into action given that his signature remains final. Unless the Congress overrides a presidential veto by a two-thirds vote no bill rejected by the president can pass into becoming a law (Ginsberg et.al, 2017). In the event of a pocket veto where the president declines to sign a bill within 10 working days while Congress has not adjourned it becomes a law automatically. Again this shows how weak the presidency is, in the real sense. In recent years, the immediate former president of the United States Barrack Obama had used his veto power severally. One is when he was rejecting the bill for national defense authorization given its budgetary implications on military operations and transfer of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The veto was a blow to Congress and the president could not be moved because he believed that the men and women in uniform deserve sufficient funding.

The president's judicial powers are outlined in Article II, Section 2 of the constitution. Here the president is mandated with nomination and appointment of federal judges including Supreme Court members. However, this power is limited by the Congress which must approve such nominations. The president also has the powers to grant full or partial pardon to convicts as well as issuing of amnesty to political offenders except in the case of impeachment. The powers to grant reprieves and pardons is least contested by other branches of the government (Ginsberg et.al, 2017). However, critics have argued that it should be limited because presidents might use it as a free pass to engage in impunity by just signing their pardon even before charges are pressed against them. This has been an issue of much concern in the Trump's administration following investigations of Russia involvement in 2016 elections. People have argued that perhaps he could be the first president in history to pardon himself.

Conclusion

The President of the United States lacks independent authority. While he has a great influence on various internal and external affairs of the nation, much of his delegated powers come from the Congress. Lack of real political power by presidency has been the cause of constant struggle between the president and the Congress. Limitation of presidential powers denies heads of states opportunities to handle matters domestic and foreign affairs effectively. Lack of checks and balances in the presidential powers also risks absolute power that may corrupt some leaders. Following the current trends of former presidents, the future is oblique for these two branches of the government. This is because presidents are now resorting to the powers of their office to facilitate their agendas. The system should come up with a solution to prevent the looming future crisis.

References

Astor, G. (2010). Presidents at War: From Truman to Bush, The Gathering of Military Powers To Our Commanders in Chief. Wiley.

Ginsberg, B., Lowi, T. J., Weir, M., Spitzer, R. J., & Tolbert, C. J. (2017). We the People. W W NORTON & Company Incorporated.

Sievert, J., & Williamson, R. D. (2018). Public attitudes toward presidential veto powers. Research & Politics, 5(1), 2053168017753873.

Thrower, S. (2018). The Study of Executive Policymaking in the US States.