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Congress and the President

Congress and the President. The President and Congress. Formal Powers: Agenda setting Treaties and Nominations State of the Union Address Budget Act of 1921 Economic Message (Employment Act of 1946) Executive Orders Informal Powers: Agenda Setting Access to the Media

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Congress and the President

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  1. Congress and the President

  2. The President and Congress • Formal Powers: Agenda setting • Treaties and Nominations • State of the Union Address • Budget Act of 1921 • Economic Message (Employment Act of 1946) • Executive Orders • Informal Powers: Agenda Setting • Access to the Media • National Electoral Campaigns

  3. Formal Powers: The Veto • Difficult to override • Congress can make it costly by bundling bills • Line Item Veto Act of 1996 • Ruled Unconstitutional in Clinton v. New York (1998) • Pocket Vetoes: • Intersession question: Ford & Reagan • Informal Powers: The Veto • Veto Messages • Veto Threats • Public Position on bill can sway members

  4. Presidential Motivations • Partisan Expectations • Leader of party • Future elections • Public Expectations • Campaign pledges • “Audience costs” • Personal Ambitions • Legacy • Term limit

  5. Strategies • Agenda Setting • Honeymoon Period • Resource constraints • Congressional • Presidential (lobbying) • Bureaucratic (technical expertise) • Media attention • Lobbying strategies • Outside: “Going public” (risk of alienating Congress) • Inside: Perks

  6. The President & Domestic Politics • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) • Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) • Cost-benefit analysis • Review of new and existing regulations • “Preclearance” • Recommendations to President

  7. The President and Foreign Affairs • Centralization • National Security Act of 1947 • Created CIA, Department of Defense, NSC • War Powers • Declaration of War uncommon • 1812, 1846, 1898, 1917, 1941 • Broad unilateral powers • (>200 conflicts since 1972) • War Powers Act of 1973 (veto overridden)

  8. Resources • Partisan Base in Congress • Formal Powers • Visibility & Public Approval • Expertise & Information • Staff (Executive Office of the President) • Patronage and Projects • Party Campaign Apparatus

  9. Congressional Resources • Agenda setting powers • Sunset provisions • Periodic authorizations • Annual appropriations • Legislative Reorganization • Government Accountability Office (GAO) • Congressional Budget Office (CBO) • Streamlining procedures

  10. The Power of the Purse • Committee Reports • Packaging Strategies • Omnibus Continuing Resolutions • Presidential Nominations • Agency Organization • Employee Qualifications • Oversight • “Fire Alarms” & “Police Patrols” • Legislative Veto • INS v Chadha (1983) • Congressional Review Act of 1996 • Impeachment

  11. Conclusions • Congress and Presidents have common interests • President “tactically” advantaged • Implementation generates discretionary authority • Congress constitutionally advantaged • Congress controls the purse • Congress has a longer time horizon • Foreign and Domestic Affairs very different

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