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Explore the roles and functions of the President, Vice President, White House Staff, and Cabinet members in the U.S. government. Learn about Executive Orders, lobbying, and policy-making processes. Discover how public opinion influences the President’s power.
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Executive Branch • Largest Branch of the Government. • President • White House Staff • Cabinet • Lower Level Bureaucracy
Vice President • Constitutional Anomaly • According to the Constitution what are the two responsibilities of the Vice President? • Take over if the President dies or is impeached • Cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate
White House Staff Chief Advisors to the president • As well as anyone else in the White House • Closest Friends and Advisors to the President are on the White House Staff • Don’t have to be approved
Cabinet • Traditional, but informal designation for the heads of all the major federal government departments. • Not Constitutional. • Must be approved • Used merely for a Party Building tool not an advisement tool • Lincoln went with Geographic Organization • Clinton diverse organization • Leads to two observations you need to know • Cabinet members do not listen directly to the President . They use their own judgment and expertise • GOING NATIVE • They are not the number one advising group to the president
2 Positions you MUST KNOW • Attorney General (Loretta Lynch) • Leader of the Department of Justice • Solicitor General (Ian Heath Gershengorn0) • America’s Lawyer
Executive Office of the President • Created by FDR in 1939 • Permanent Agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president, • OMB- Office of Management and Budget • CEA- Council of Economic Advisors • NSC- National Security Council
OMB • The Most important and largest EOP agency is….. • Office of Management and Budget • Its Role is preparing the National Budget Report • The OMB sets the terms of discourse (of the budget) for agencies as well as congress • The Director of the OMB is now one of the most powerful officials in Washington
Budget Process • President Proposes • OMB writes the Budget • Interest Groups and Agencies lobby for money to the OMB • CBO examines the budget and suggests revisions to the House • House introduces it and then it takes the normal steps of how a Bill becomes a law
President as Policy Maker “It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose” FDR
Setting the Agenda • Starting with FDR, Presidents would send a legislative packet to Congress and try to set their agenda • Agenda Setting • A policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that gets attention of or is viewed by people involved in policy making
Main tool in Agenda Setting • The Media • Why does the president have an advantage over Congress in gaining media coverage? • President speaks with a single voice, while Congress has many voices • President represents the nation, while Congress represents states and districts • The president is the national leader to the country • President is more powerful than any member of congress
Lobbying Congress • President must successfully lobby congress to pass his agenda • Patronage-Jobs, Grants, and favors in exchange for support • Party- Party Discipline and Campaign Stops • Style and Force of Personality • Leadership • Persuasion
Policy Making through Regulation • Major Policy changes can be made through Executive Orders • Office of Homeland Security was established via an Executive Order • Used an Executive Order which radically changed the Presidential Records Act • Obama has used Executive Orders to completely change how we interrogate our Enemy Combats
Policy through the Budget • Economic Policy starts and ends with the Budget • President was given power of interjecting his views on the Budget during FDR’s presidency • Congress still plays an important role in the Budget • The lesson of 1998 – the year of the balanced budget- was that Congress, OMB, and the President all had to work together
Budget Process • President Proposes • OMB writes the Budget • Interest Groups and Agencies lobby for money to the OMB • CBO examines the budget and suggests revisions to the House • House introduces it and then it takes the normal steps of how a Bill becomes a law
Public Opinion • The President’s Biggest Ally or Biggest Enemy • President has a much easier time passing legislation when his popularity polls are up • “Going to the Public” • Going Over Congress and straight to the People and allow the People to put pressure on Congress