US Government & Politics · Module 3 of 7
The Presidency & the Bureaucracy
Formal and informal presidential powers, checks on the president, and how the federal bureaucracy makes and carries out policy.
Formal & Informal Powers
- Formal (constitutional) powers: veto and pocket veto, commander in chief, negotiating treaties, appointing officials and judges (with Senate confirmation), and granting pardons.
- Informal powers: executive orders, executive agreements (with other countries, no Senate ratification), signing statements, and the "bully pulpit" of public persuasion.
- Federalist No. 70 (Hamilton) argues for a single, energetic executive who can act with speed and accountability. The 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two elected terms.
Why might a president use an executive agreement instead of a treaty?
Solution. A treaty needs a two-thirds Senate vote to ratify. An executive agreement doesn't, so the president can act when that supermajority is unlikely.
Checks on the President
- Congress checks the president through veto overrides, the power of the purse, Senate confirmation and treaty votes, oversight hearings, and impeachment and removal.
- The War Powers Resolution (1973) requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of sending troops and to withdraw them within 60 days (plus 30 days to withdraw) without congressional authorization.
- Courts can strike down executive actions as unconstitutional.
Give two ways Congress can check a president's foreign policy.
Solution. Any two of: refuse to ratify a treaty, refuse to confirm ambassadors, cut funding for a military action, or invoke the War Powers Resolution.
The Federal Bureaucracy
- The bureaucracy includes cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies (e.g. the EPA, SEC), and government corporations (e.g. USPS). Since the Pendleton Act (1883), most jobs are filled by merit rather than patronage.
- Agencies have discretionary and rule-making authority: they write detailed regulations to carry out broad laws passed by Congress.
- Iron triangles link an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group in a stable policy relationship. Issue networks are looser coalitions of experts and advocates.
- Oversight: Congress (hearings, funding), the president (appointments, executive orders), and the courts all hold the bureaucracy accountable.
Congress passes a law requiring "clean air." How does the EPA's discretionary authority come into play?
Solution. The EPA writes specific regulations, such as emission limits for particular pollutants, to put the broad law into effect.
Check yourself
2 of this module's 5 quiz questions. Pick your answers, then check them in the app, with an explanation for every question.
1. Which is an INFORMAL presidential power?
2. Federalist No. 70 argues for: