Describe the Congressional Checks on the Presidency

1. Describe the congressional checks on the presidency (10)

There are a variety of different congressional checks on the presidency. One congressional check is the fact that the congress has to approve presidential appointments to the cabinet. This means that the congress has some influence over who can be appointed as cabinet. If they find a certain appointment to be too extreme or inappropriate then they can stop the appointment from being made. This check was highlighted in the recent case of Andrew F. Pudzer, who was nominated to be the labour secretary by Trump, whom the senate did not approve leading his nomination to be withdrawn.

Another congressional check on the presidency is the threat of impeachment, which congress can use to remove a president from office if he is found to not be acting in America’s best interest or committing illegalities. There have been calls for congress to impeach President Trump for having been in direct violation of the US constitution. Although with the current congress this looks unlikely, the threat of impeachment is one which acts as a congressional check on the presidency.

Congress also has the power to be able to override a president’s veto, with a super majority in both houses. This means that any proposed legislation that have an overwhelming amount of support can be implemented. An example of when this occurred was when congress overrode Obama’s veto of the 9/11 Victims Bill in 2016.

Lastly, congress also has the power to be able to amend and refuse proposed legislation by the President if they do not agree with it. This can be currently seen with congress’ refusal to ratify the healthcare reforms to Obamacare due to there being a lack of an alternative to be implemented.

1. Discuss the view that crises faced by the Bush and Obama administrations increased presidential power (15)

For an assessment of the view that crises faced by the Bush and Obama administrations increased presidential power, first it needs to be known what is meant by the term crises. Crises refer to rare events where there was a period of extreme difficulty or hardship. In this essay, the crises that will be looked at include 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy the financial crisis.

It can be argued that the crisis 9/11 increased the presidential power of Bush. This is because in the aftermath of the crisis, Bush was given increased power, acting as Commander in Chief, to prevent similar attacks from occurring again. This was highlighted with the aggressive approach to the fight against Al Qaeda, using tactics such as detaining terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, using coercive interrogation techniques. This increased emphasis on national security affected presidential power as it meant that the president was allowed greater flexibility as commander in chief to protect America from further attack. This can be demonstrated by the fact the President Bush first signed a secret order in October 2001 authorising the NSA to eavesdrop on US citizens and foreign nationals even though criminal law prohibited such surveillance without a warrant.

However, 9/11 can also be contrasted to the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina can be seen to not have increased presidential power in the same way which 9/11 did. This is because although the president had some short term increased power, being able to sign a $10.4 billion aid package and ordering 7,200 National Guard troops to the region, this power only lasted for the duration of the immediate aftermath of the crisis. This can be seen by the fact that Bush had to request congress to approve for further aid of $51.8 billion in aid to be sent to New Orleans. Therefore, compared to the crisis of 9/11 which concerned national security, Hurricane Katrina was a crisis which did not increase presidential power as much in the long run. Therefore, it can be seen that the type of crisis can affect the increase in presidential power, with congress being much more involved in domestic issues. This reinforces the idea of there being two different presidents on different fronts, with one on the domestic front and one on foreign policy. Crisis which involve foreign policy can lead to a much greater increase in presidential power opposed to those involving domestic issues, where congress is much more involved.