After the long speech rehearsals, extravagant campaigns, timely flights and sleepless nights are over, the real mission begins. Directly after taking office, the president is put to work. From the day the head of state walks into the white house, until the day he/she leaves the office, there is no end to the restless nights. But, in the words of uncle Ben (Spider-man's uncle) "with great power comes great responsibility." However, a president must be responsible with the way he/she uses his/her power, considering that the commander in chief has an abundance of it. And though there are many powers that a president possesses, some are far more significant than others. Whereas Congress has the power to declare war, the president has the power
War Power Reform When it comes to war-making powers, both the legislative and the executive branches play a major role determining the course of action. Constitutionally the legislative branch has the power to declare war, but the president (executive branch), without Congress’s permission, can “make” war. This is due to the War Powers Resolution, which was enacted by Congress in 1973 to keep the president in check.
The president has many roles but, the most important one I think is being the Commander in Chief of are armed forces. As the Commander in Chief the president can mobilize military forces as see to protect critical choke points, interest, or allies to the United States. The War Power Resolution of 1973 helps give the president the authority to take action and mobilize the military. Now there are checks and balance to this act as there is in anything with are government. The first check and balance is having to notify congress within forty-eight hours of military mobilization.
The overall construction of the Constitution designates that Congress may not direct State officials: “The Framers explicitly chose a Constitution that confers upon Congress the power to regulate individuals,not States.” It is the President's job, under the Constitution, to oversee execution of federal laws, but “The Brady Act effectively transfers this responsibility to thousands of CLEOs in the fifty States, who are left to implement the program without meaningful Presidential control”. However, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the majority opinion misinterpreted Congress's power under the Constitution. Congress may not wrest the powers that the Constitution reserves to the States, but when it exploits its legitimate constitutional powers,
However, presidents might depend on Congress to support their foreign policy actions. The president has more advantages while executing laws over Congress because he has a chance to negotiate with Congress, measure legislative effectiveness, and veto bills. Since Congress contains 535 members, it takes Congress members a lot of time to negotiate and commit a final decision while the president can decide and act within a brief time. With the knowledge of congressional operations and skill of persuasion, the president can discuss, cajole, and bargain with Congress members to compromise and get as much as he can.
The Congress is the supreme potent branch in the US, holds the agendas of the government. The two major political parties in the US Congress are The Republican and the Democratic Party with the Democratic Party comprising of 188 seats and the Republicans 246 seats. The Congress performs functions such as, representation of the people, law making, oversight performance, ensuring the public is fully educated and serving their constituents. Several factors have made it difficult for the democrats and Republicans in the congress to expressive a rational political outline.
When it comes to the President and Congress, many people have different views on who holds the most power. Some people believe the President has more power, some may believe that Congress has more power, and others may think that the two share power equally. While I do believe that the President is one of the most powerful figures in the country, overall I think that Congress does hold more power in most situations. Congress is composed of two different houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. These two houses are also known as the legislative branch.
Congress and the President share a set of goals that are extremely similar. Both seek to produce public policy and maintain their electoral constituencies, so they often behave in anticipation of what they expect the other to do. One can characterize their strategies as a game-theoretic model in which Congress and the President take turns exercising partial agenda control and typically arrive at policy that is acceptable to both sides. The President has a powerful advantage in this model because his or her sources of power impart an increased ability to persuade others through: vantage points in government, veto bargaining, and the power to set the agenda. Just as they do in the real world, these tools allow the simulated President to influence
However, “the last time Congress declared war was December 8, 1941, but U.S. troops have been sent into action many times since that date.” Furthermore, presidents have begun to question the relevancy of the Constitutional distribution of war powers, and they have authorized their own actions without the Congressional approval. In “Federalist Paper 69,” Alexander Hamilton wrote “the President will have only the occasional command of such part of the militia of the nation as by legislative provision may be called into the actual service of the Union.”
Regardless, the Chief Executives have seemed to found that a formal declaration is not required. War Powers Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution assigns Congress the power to declare war. The President, meanwhile, derives the power to direct the military after a Congressional declaration of war from Article II, Section 2, which names the President Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. These
We all had those moments when we all hated the congress for passing a bill that destroyed their dreams or the president for only who they were or what their stance on certain things, however have you ever thought who really calls the shots, the President or the Congress? Like sure, it would make sense if the President has most of the power, while Congress has some or vice versa. Although when it comes to certain things, the Congress has more power over the situation. In Presidential Influence on Congressional Appropriations Decisions by D. Roderick Kiewiet and Mathew D. McCubbins, they state that the president must possess impressive resources upon which to draw.
Congress is known as the lawmaking department of the United States federal government, also known as a two chamber legislature, which includes the Senate and the House of representatives. The representatives of congress are chosen by a direct popular vote. The Senate is the upper house and has a 6 year term which makes lawmaking much slower and they consider the overall effects of laws. The House of Representatives is the lower part and can react quicker to the needs of the people because the representatives have only a two year term.
The power play between the president and Congress is especially intense during this new pattern of the concept of divided government. When one party controls the presidency; the other controls one or both houses of Congress. I would have to point out that I never even knew this existed in the government. A divided government is one where different branches of the government be controlled by different political parties. The concept related to the separations of powers between the executive and legislative branches.
He/ She also has to approve or veto new laws that are trying to be passed. The president also has to grant pardons, which usually is a very tough decision to make. The president is also the Commander in Chief, so he has to decide to send troops and risk people’s lives or not. These are just a few reasons why the president’s job is
The constitution attempts to evenly distribute powers between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government by providing the president or the commander-in-chief the power to control and supervise the military upon approval by congress, who have the power to declare war and to support the armed forces. The subject of debate regarding the act is whether the president has the authority to send military troops to war without congressional approval. The way the war powers act was written makes it difficult to decipher approximately how much power is the president privileged in the war-making process. According to the constitution congress have the powers to authorize war by formally granting letters that verify and confirm the
The Constitution defines the president as the executive who puts into effect the laws Congress passes. The president is elected every four years, and can only be re-elected once. The president is both the head of state and head of government of the USA, and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The president is also responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. The president of the USA is by many considered the most powerful man in the world.