The President of the United States and the Executive Branch

Unit Four- AA * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The position is elected by the electoral college once every four years

• The President is paid $400,000.00 a year in salary, and is also given a $50,000.00 a year expense allowance. He also has a $100,000.00 non taxable travel account, and a $19,000.00 entertainment account

• The President is entitled to use of the 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators, the swimming pool, bowling alley and movie theater of the executive mansion, more commonly referred to as The White House. He is also entitled to the use of the staff of the White House, its security, and government provided state dinners and official functions. The President does have to provide for his and his family’s own food and laundry services. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• There are three main floors of the White House, and two sub basements. The upper level of the White House is the President’s personal residence. The lower level is where the President’s office (the oval office) is located, and an adjoining wing (The West Wing) is where the Presidential staff has their offices.

• The President also has access to two private Boeing 747 modified jets that are equipped with a state of the art communications system, meeting rooms, sleeping quarters, dining facilities, and anti missile and anti EMP repulsors and defense systems. Whatever aircraft the President is aboard automatically becomes Air Force One.

• He also has access to an armored limousine for ground transport, and a Marine helicopter for shorter journeys, which when he is aboard is known as Marine One. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The President also has access to a series of four connected town house known as Blair Park where he can house guests, a mountain based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland named Naval Support Facility Thurmont, where the President, his family, and invited guests can vacation in nature. It is more popularly known as Camp David.

• The President, his immediate family, and other important persons associated with him are protected 24 hours a day by the United States Secret Service.

• When a President leaves office, they are given Secret Service protection for ten years afterwards, They also receive a retirement salary equal to what cabinet secretaries receive in pay, currently $191,300.00 a year. They are also provided with offices and a staff at the government’s expense. They are also provided with travel expenses and franking privileges. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Legislative Powers • The President has the power to approve or disapprove of proposed laws through the veto power. When a bill is presented to the President, there are four possible outcomes: • He can sign it and it becomes law • He can refuse to sign it, and return it to Congress with his objections, and if Congress is still in session, they can take a vote to override his veto. • He can do nothing with it, and after ten days (not counting Sundays) if Congress is still in session, it automatically becomes law. • He can do nothing with it, and after ten days (not counting Sundays) if Congress is not in session, the bill essentially dies in what is called a pocket veto. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• War and Foreign Affairs Powers • The President commands and directs the military and is responsible for planning military strategy in his role as the Commander in Chief of the United States Military.

• The President is also responsible for the establishment of the foreign policy of the United States. The President is responsible for the protection of Americans and American commercial and military interests abroad, and of foreign nationals in the United States. The President decides whether to recognize new nations and new governments, and negotiates treaties with other nations, which become binding on the United States when approved by two-thirds vote of the Senate. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Administrative Powers • The President is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed.“ The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military.

• Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments: an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before he takes office and 8,000 more during his term. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a President with the "advice and consent" of a majority of the Senate. Appointments made while the Senate is in recess are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Administrative Powers

• The power of a President to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a President may remove purely executive officials at his discretion. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a President's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute.

• The President possesses the ability to direct much of the executive branch through executive orders that are grounded in federal law or constitutionally granted executive power. Executive orders are reviewable by federal courts and can be repealed by federal legislation.

* The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Judicial Powers

• Presidents may grant pardons, amnesties and reprieves, as is often done just before the end of a Presidential term, not without controversy. This power is absolute, except in cases of impeachment. The executive’s power of clemency can only be used in cases of federal offenses. • A Presidential pardon is usually granted after a person has been convicted in a court. In order for the pardon to go into effect, it must be accepted by the person who is being pardoned, and if given before found guilty in a court, or even before charges are entered against the person, is usually seen as an admission of guilt. Pardons may also be given under conditions laid out by the President, so long as the conditions are reasonable. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Judicial Powers

• Presidents may grant pardons, amnesties and reprieves, as is often done just before the end of a Presidential term, not without controversy. This power is absolute, except in cases of impeachment. • The President may also commute a sentence, or reduce a fine, severity of punishment, or the length of a sentence imposed by a court. • The President can also issue a blanket pardon for people and groups of law violators, known as amnesty. President Carter gave amnesty to draft dodgers of the Vietnam era in 1978, and Barack Obama has indicated that he may be willing to extend amnesty to illegal aliens in the United States. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Executive Privilege

• At times Presidents have insisted that the Constitution gives them the inherent power to refuse to disclose certain information to Congress or to the federal courts. That is they have claimed the power of executive privilege. • Most often, a claim of executive privilege has been made with regard to conversations and other communications between the President and his or her closest advisors, as he must of necessity rely on the information and advice he receives from key staff and their ability to speak with the utmost candor, honesty, and openly propose ideas relies on the confidential nature of their relationship with the President. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Executive Privilege

• Congress has never recognized executive privilege. It has often tried to compel executive officials to testify at Congressional committee hearings, and Presidents have frequently resisted those efforts citing their executive privilege. The Operation Fast and Furious hearings a re a good recent example of this. • While normally reluctant to get involved in fights between the executive and legislative branches, the Supreme Court has found in The United States vs. Nixon that the executive privilege does exist, and is needed, but is limited to matters involving national security, and cannot be used to hide or prevent evidence from being heard in a criminal proceeding. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• The Shaper of the Legislative Agenda

• The President has the power to shape the legislative agenda as many laws are those proposed by the executive branch, which the President, as the chief of his party can ask Congressional members of his party to sponsor and push through. The President usually sets his annual legislative agenda through the constitutionally required State of the Union Address by tradition given the latter part of January. • The President’s control of the bureaucracy also allows for him to control a legislative agenda through regulatory law that has little Congressional oversight. In fact, the President has the authority to appoint executive officers under the Secretaries of Departments, that do not require Senate approval, but control a great deal of policy implementation and design. These offices are known unofficially as czars. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the President

• Ceremonial Leader

• The President does such things as the Easter Egg Roll on the south White House lawn, throws out the first ceremonial pitch of the major league baseball season, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, pardons the Thanksgiving turkey, hosts state arrival ceremonies and presides over state dinners. They also leave messages for incoming Presidents and aid them in their transitions, and as unofficial aides during their administrations. • In recent times, people have become more aware, and some more critical, of the President as a national celebrity, spinning media reports about themselves, staging photo opportunities, and hanging out with stars of film and music and TV. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the Office of the President

• To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, or all of the people who work under the President in the executive branch, excluding the military, Presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Within the Executive Office, the President's innermost layer of aides (and their assistants) are located in the White House Office (the West Wing).

• This means the President has become more than just a person, but as the head of a large staff that runs the White House, directs legislative policy, and commands the world’s most powerful military force, as well as is CEO of one of the largest employers in the world, the Presidency has become an office. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The Powers of the Office of the President

• The President’s right arm is the Executive Office of the President (EOP). The EOP is an umbrella agency that has several separate agencies staffed by some 900 of the President’s closest advisors and assistants.

• The nerve center of the EOP and the entire executive branch is the White House Office. This office is headed by The Chief of Staff who directs all of the operations of the office and is among the most influential Presidential aides.

• Under the White House Office are the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, the Homeland Security Council, the Office of Cabinet Affairs, and the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs.

• The staff of the White House also includes the President’s Counselor (his personal attorney,) the Press Secretary, the President’s physician, speech writers, economists, foreign policy experts, defense and homeland security experts, congressional relations, and public relations experts. * The President of the United States

• We all know what the President is from our study of Article Two of the Constitution, but what exactly is the office?

• The current White House Chief of Staff is Reince Priebus