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  • The supreme court recently ruled that 3 Presidential Appointments were made illegally, unanimously

  • agreeing that President Obama overstepped his powers. Which begs the question, what

  • powers does the Executive Branch actually have?

  • Well, let's start with the general stuff. He has the power to veto or approve bills,

  • pardon people, command our military, sign treaties, nominate judges and nominate people

  • to fill any other position whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution.

  • Meaning he appoints pretty much everybody but Congress itself.

  • Congress does have the right to approve his appointees, but only when they are in session.

  • If congress is on recess, the President can appoint whomever he wants.

  • This is where the court says he over stepped his powers recently. He filled vacancies on

  • The National Labor Relations Board without the consent of congress, while congress was

  • technically still in session.

  • They weren't actually in session, but they also weren't away long enough for them to

  • be considered on recess... constitutionally speaking congress has to be out of session

  • for 10 days for it be considered recess.

  • It's a weird loophole and it's not the only weird loophole when you're talking about Presidential

  • Powers.

  • The President has the power to prepare the budget, which allows him to set much of the

  • agenda. And, with congressional approval, his suggested budget can cut funding to programs

  • he doesn't agree with. Though in the end, it's just a suggested budget; congress is

  • under no obligation to answer his request... and they usually just ignore it altogether.

  • The president has power of executive privilege, meaning that he can withhold information from

  • the public in matters of national security.

  • But it has to actually be a matter of national security.

  • Clinton tried to use this power during the Monica Lewinski scandal. The Supreme Court

  • didn't allow it, because hooking up with an intern is not a matter of national security.

  • After that, talking about Presidential powers becomes more vague.

  • The President can issue executive orders. These orders only apply to the operations

  • of the Executive Branch, but seeing as things like the defense department, NSA, FBI and

  • pretty much every other influential agency are under the Executive Branch, these can

  • be wide reaching powers.

  • Executive orders don't have to be approved by congress. The President can just make them

  • up. And in order to get them off the books the Supreme Court has to rule that they are

  • unconstitutional.

  • When people are talking about Presidents potentially abusing their powers, executive orders are

  • usually what they're referring to.

  • During times of war or national threat we tend to see more executive orders. FDR issued

  • 3,728 of them, whereas Ronald Reagan issued less than 381.

  • Barack Obama, to date, has only issued 175. Still, some see Obama's use of Executive orders

  • as an overreach of his powers. His decision to send troops into Libya without congressional

  • consent is one good example of one order that has garnered some criticism.

  • The president can also issue memorandums. These are not as binding as Executive Orders,

  • but they still have a wide reaching impact. Obama for example issued a memorandum asking

  • federal agencies to start getting at least 20% of their energy from renewable energy

  • sources by 2020. It's not a law, but it is a recommended change in how our government

  • does things. And it does happen without the consent of congress.

  • Lucky for us the Supreme Court can review executive orders and memorandums, and if the

  • president steps outside the powers granted him by the constitution, they can knock him

  • back in line.

  • Like they did with the current presidential appointee snafu.

  • If you have anything you want us to cover, let us know in the comments. And to see our

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The supreme court recently ruled that 3 Presidential Appointments were made illegally, unanimously

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