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Power of US President

The President has extensive powers as both head of state and head of the executive branch. As chief executive, the President oversees the administration, makes appointments to federal offices and agencies, negotiates treaties (though they require Senate approval), and acts as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President also has substantial legislative influence through powers like proposing legislation, vetoing bills, calling special sessions of Congress, and issuing executive orders.

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3K views3 pages

Power of US President

The President has extensive powers as both head of state and head of the executive branch. As chief executive, the President oversees the administration, makes appointments to federal offices and agencies, negotiates treaties (though they require Senate approval), and acts as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President also has substantial legislative influence through powers like proposing legislation, vetoing bills, calling special sessions of Congress, and issuing executive orders.

Uploaded by

Manjira Kar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Powers & Functions of The US President

The President is the both real and executive head in the USA. He is an elected
representative inspire of the fact that the country follows a Presidential form of
government. All other executives of the country are nominated by the President.

Following are the major powers and functions of U.S. President

Executive Powers
Head of National Administration
He is the Chief Executive and as such it is his duty to see that the laws and the
treaties are enforced throughout country.

Appointments
He has the power to make all important appointments but all such appointments are
to be approved by the Senate. As a matter of usage, the, Senate does not interfere in
the appointments of the Secretaries, Ambassadors, and other diplomats. But the
appointments of Judges of the Supreme Court must be scrutinized thoroughly by the
Senate In the appointments of federal officers in various states of the U.S.A. the
convention called “Senatorial Courtesy” has come into existence. The constitution of
the USA says that the federal appointments arc to be made by the President and
approved by the Senate. The President has no time to look into all appointments,
which number in thousand. So he has delegated his power to make appointments to
the Senators from the state where there is a vacancy. The only condition is that the
Senators must belong to his party. The appointments made by the Senators are
approved by the Senate out of courtesy. The President has the power to remove any
person appointed by him except judges.

Dictator in Foreign Relations


The President has control of foreign relations, which he conducts with the assistance
of the Secretary of State. He appoints all Ambassadors and other Diplomats. He
negotiates treaties with foreign powers. But such treaties must be ratified by a 2/3rd
majority of the Senate. The Senate can block a treaty that the President has
negotiated but it connote make a treaty or force the President to make one. The
President receives Ambassadors and ministers from abroad. In fact, he is the Chief
Spokesman of the U.S.A. in international affairs and is directly responsible for the
foreign policy of his country and its results. He has the sole power to recognize or
refuse to recognize new states.
Commander-in-Chief / Powers of Defence
He is the Commander-in-Chief of the US-armed forces as such he is responsible for
the defence of his country. He appoints military-officers with the consent of the
Senate and can remove them at will. He can send American forces to any part of the
world. Again, it is for the President to decide in time of war and aggression when and
where and whether the H-bomb should be dropped. He cannot, however, declare
war without the consent of Congress. But he can handle the international situation in
such a way as to make war inevitable; American forces were ordered to undertake
police action in Korea in 1951 without a declaration of war.

Legislative Powers
The constitution of the USA is based upon the theory of the Separation of Powers.
The executive and the legislative branches of the government are made independent
of each other. So in strict theory, Congress legislates and the President executes. In
practice, however, the President has become a very important legislator. His
legislative powers are as follows:

Messages
The President is required by the constitution to send messages to Congress giving it
information regarding the, state0, of the Union. Sometimes these messages contain
concrete proposals: for legislation. The Congress cannot easily ignore such legislative
proposals as they come from a very high authority.

Veto
He can influence Congress by the use of his “Veto”. All Bills passed by Congress are
presented to the President for assent. The President may refuse to sign a Bill and
send it back to the House in which it originated within 10 days of the receipt of the
Bill. Congress can override a veto by passing the Bill again: The only condition is that
the Bill must be passed by a 2/31-d majority in each House. So the veto of the
President is only suspensive one. But sometimes it becomes difficult to secure a
2/3″d majority in each House. In that case the suspensive veto becomes an absolute
one. If a Bill is sent to the President and he neither signs the Bill nor returns it to
Congress, the Bill becomes a law within 10 clays even without his signature. The only
condition is that Congress must be in session. If Congress adjourns in the meantime,
the Bill is automatically killed. This is called Pocket Veto. This means that the
President can simply ignore the Bill (“put it in his pocket”) if it is passed by Congress
on a date less than 10 days before it adjourn. Many Bills passed towards the close of
the session of the Congress are killed in this way.
Extraordinary Sessions
The President can call special sessions of Congress. It is true that he cannot compel
Congress to accept his legislative recommendations. But, if he is backed by a strong
and solid public opinion, he can easily achieve his object.

Ordinance
The President can also issue certain executive orders having the force of law. This is
known as the Ordinance power, of the President. The number of such executive
orders is very large. As a result of this the President has been able to, increase his
legislative influence tremendously.

Patronage
The President has powerful weapons of patronage in his hands to influence Congress.
Members of Congress want jobs for their relatives, friends and supporters. The
President is in a position to oblige them in this matter. He makes bargains with
members to seek their support for legislative measures on which he has set his heart.

Personal Conferences
In recent times, the President of America have used the device of taking
Congressional leaders into confidence by holding personal conferences with them. By
this method, the President is able to secure their support for his legislative measures.

Financial Powers
In theory, it is Congress, .which controls the public purse. In practice, the budget is
prepared under the guidance and supervision of the President. Of course, Congress is
at liberty to change the badge proposals, but generally it seldom does it.

Judicial Powers
The President has the power to grant pardon and reprieve to all offenders against
federal laws, except those who have been impeached or those who have offended
against the State (country). He also appoints the Judges of Supreme Court, no doubt
on the consent of Senate.

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