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Chapter 14 Section 4. Fateema El- Mansouri , Grae Foster, Linyi Gao , Katie Garrett, Ashley Hosentfeld , Aubrey Johnson, & Roy Nelson. Legislative Powers.
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Chapter 14 Section 4 Fateema El-Mansouri, Grae Foster, LinyiGao, Katie Garrett, Ashley Hosentfeld, Aubrey Johnson, & Roy Nelson.
Legislative Powers • “…shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient…” Article II, Section 3 • The Constitution says that every bill and every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary shall be presented to the President.
Legislative Powers continued • When Congress passes a bill, the President has 4 options: • Sign the bill, making it law. • Allow the bill to become law by not acting on it. • Veto it. • Congress can override the veto w/ a 2/3 vote in both chambers. This hardly happens and is a significant weapon in the Presidents dealings w/the legislation branch. • Pocket veto it. A president may kill a bill passed within the last 10 days Congress is in session simply by refusing to sign it before Congress adjourns.
Vocabulary • Line-item veto—the President be given the power to cancel specific dollar amounts (line items) in spending bills enacted by Congress. • Reprieve—postponement of the execution of a sentence. • Pardon—legal forgiveness of a crime. • Clemency—mercy or leniency; may be used only in cases involving federal offenses. • Commutation—the power to commute (reduce) the length of a sentence or a fine imposed by a court. • Amnesty—a blanket pardon offered to a group of law violators.
Judicial Powers • “…Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 • The Presidents general judicial powers involves granting reprieves, pardons, amnesty, and commutation. • The President can not however use these in a case of impeachment (clemency).
George W. Bush’s Vetoes • 12 total vetoes, including 1 pocket • Lowest since 1923 • 4 vetoes overridden • Water Resources Development Act of 2007 • 2007 U.S. Farm Bill • 2007 U.S. Farm Bill (corrected) • Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act
Obama Veto’s • Only 2 from 2008 – 2011 • Foreclosure Bill H.R. 3808 - “The vetoed bill, which is two pages, would have required local courts to accept notarizations, including those made electronically, from across state lines. Its sponsors said it was intended to promote interstate commerce.” – Washington Post • Military Appropriations Bill HR3326 - Mr. Obama's Dec. 30 "memorandum of disapproval" did not attack the substance of the bill, arguing only that the emergency spending measure had been "rendered unnecessary" when lawmakers subsequently passed a $626 billion long-term defense appropriations bill that covered all the programs in the stopgap bill.
The Line Item Veto • The Line Item Veto Act of 1996 gave the president the power to nullify specific provisions of budget appropriations. • Passed by Congress in order to control “pork barrel spending” that favors a particular region rather than the nation as a whole. • Used 11 times to strike 82 items from the federal budget by President Bill Clinton. • The Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. City of New York (1998) that the line-item veto violated the Presentment Clause of the Constitution. • 6-3 majority delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens.
Amnesty—Historical Examples • In 1795, President George Washington issued an amnesty to all participants in the Whiskey Rebellion, which involved a protest by farmers in Pennsylvania against paying federal taxes. • In 1946, President Harry S. Truman issued an amnesty covering 1,500 draft resisters in World War II. Six years later, he granted amnesty to 9,000 individuals who had deserted from the military during the Korean War.
Presidential Pardons—An Example • A presidential pardon provides official forgiveness for criminal wrongdoing and gives back to convicted criminals benefits of a full citizenship. • Approximately 20,000 pardons and clemencies were issued by U.S. presidents in the 20th century alone. • On January 20, 2001, President Clinton pardoned 140 people in the final hours of his presidency. • Roger Clinton, Jr., actor and half-brother.