Executive Branch Notes

-The Executive branch of the US government is made up of the President & Vice President, the President’s cabinet, all executive departments and offices, independent government agencies, and government owned corporations. The Executive Branch of the United States Government is a huge bureaucracy that employs thousands and thousands of people in America and abroad.

-Each member of the President’s cabinet heads an Executive Department.

-There are 15 Executive Departments, they are as follows: Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and Department of Homeland Security.

-The Executive Branch is also made up of many independent agencies. Some of these agencies are set up to assist the President and the cabinet. The most important of these agencies are as follows: The General Services Administration, The National Archives and Records Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Administration. Some of the other important agencies that make up the Executive Branch include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA,) the Civil Rights Commission, and the Small Business Administration (SBA.) The President appoints the head of all of these agencies.
-The Executive Branch also is in charge of government corporations. The federal government owns and operates corporations/businesses. These corporations often exist to provide a service to the public. Some of the more important of these corporations include the US Postal Service, AMTrak, The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA,) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Company.

*The Presidency
-The aspect of the Executive Branch that people are the most familiar with is the Presidency. Currently the President of the United States is George W. Bush, and the Vice-President is Richard Cheney.

-In order to serve as President of the United States, or Vice-President of the United States, a person must be a natural born citizen of the United States, he or she must be a continuous resident of the United States for 14 consecutive years before taking office, and he or she must be at least 35 years of age before taking office. There are no other legal requirements for these offices; the only other requirements are the ones imposed on the candidates by the people of the United States.

-The 22nd Amendment mandates that a person may be elected to the office of President for no more than 2 terms, or serve for a maximum of 10 years.

-The President is paid an annual salary of $200,000 for his duties, plus an additional $50,000 for expenses, and $120,000 for travel and entertainment.

*Presidential Succession
-According to the 25th Amendment, when a vacancy occurs in the office of President the Vice-President takes over the Presidency.

-If something should happen to the Vice-President, the President will appoint a successor who must be confirmed by a majority of both houses of Congress.

-In the rare event that something should happen to the President that would create a vacancy in that office, and the office of Vice-President is already vacant, or something happens to cause vacancies in both the office of President and Vice-President, then the order of succession is as follows:
Speaker of the House of Representatives, President Pro-tempore, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, etc (cabinet members in the order that the department that he or she heads was created.)

*The Vice-President
-According to the Constitution the Vice-President has only two duties, to be the President of the Senate with the ability to vote only in the event of a tie, and to help determine, along with the cabinet, whether the President is disabled and not able to perform his duties. In the event that the President is temporarily disabled, the Vice-President will serve as acting President until the President is again able to perform his duties.

-Some Vice-Presidents work closely with the President in determining policy and in making decisions, other Vice-Presidents hardly do anything at all. The Vice-President serves the President, therefore it is up to each individual President to decide what role if any the Vice-President will play in the presidential administration.

*The Role of the President
-In America the President serves two purposes, to act as Head of State, and to act as Chief Executive.

-Some countries have separate people to perform each of these duties. For example the Head of State in Great Britain is the Queen, and the Chief Executive is the Prime Minister. Other countries, such as Ireland actually elect a President to serve as Head of State, and a Prime Minister to serve as Chief Executive; the President of Ireland hardly performs any political duties.

-In his role as Head of State the President acts as the unofficial goodwill ambassador of the United States to the rest of the world. He participates in official ceremonies, makes many public appearances, and hosts leaders and dignitaries from foreign countries.

-In his role as Chief Executive the President serves as the leader of the government, the highest-ranking manager of the federal bureaucracy, the Commander in Chief of the US military, the nations top legislator, chief diplomat for the US, chief economic planner, leader of his political party, and the countries most important decision maker.

-The President has a few tools at his disposal to aid him in his duties as Chief Executive. These tools are as follows: executive orders, impoundment, reprieves, pardons, and amnesty.

Special Powers of the President
To aid him in his duties as chief executive the President has a few special powers at his disposal. They are as follows:

-Executive Orders: These are rules that a President makes that have the force of law. Executive Orders are issued to spell out many of the details of policies and programs that Congress enacts. The majority of executive orders that the President issues are simply the appointments that he makes to government offices that do not require Congressional approval.

-Power to Fire: The President has the power to fire any official that he appoints. This includes members of the cabinet, members of the military, and any other person he appoints, except for federal judges. The President may not, under any circumstances, fire any elected official.

-Impoundment: The President may refuse to permit a federal department or agency from spending the money Congress has appropriated for its use. The President must have Congressional approval to impound money.

-Power of Appointment: The President has the power to appoint many officials. Most of his appointments are made through executive orders, however most of the high level appointments that the President makes need approval of the US Senate. The President usually appoints people that share his same basic political beliefs, this is important because many of these appointees, especially federal judges, have the power to make important decisions that influence government policies and the way laws are interpreted.

-Reprieves: The President has the power to issue reprieves. A reprieve is a postponement of legal punishment for a crime that was committed. The postponement may be indefinite and the punishment sometimes is never delivered.
-Pardons: The President has the power to issue pardons. A pardon is a release from legal judgment and punishment for a crime that was committed. Pardons can be issued before a person stands trial for a crime, or after a person is convicted of a crime. If a pardon is issued it is as if the crime or crimes never took place.

-Amnesty: This is a pardon given to a group of people for committing crimes against the government. An example of this took place during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter. Carter granted amnesty to all the men who ignored or fled the draft during the Vietnam War.

Duties of the Chief Executive
The Chief Executive has many duties and responsibilities. Some of the most important of these are as follows:

-Chief Legislator: Before a President is elected he makes many promises during his campaign. After a President is elected he is expected to try to deliver on these promises. He often does this by coming up with ideas for new laws. The President and his staff spend significant time writing legislation that one of the President’s allies in Congress introduces in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.

-Economic Planner: The President has many powers and duties that enable him to play a role in the planning of the national economy. The most important of these duties is to prepare and propose the federal budget each year. Congress must approve the budget before it can take effect.

-Party Leader: The President’s political party expects him to lead the party by setting the party’s platform, helping to get fellow party members elected to federal, state, and local offices, and by doing favors for interest groups that support the party.

-Chief Diplomat: The President directs the foreign policy of the US; he makes key decisions and deals about and with other countries in the world. To help him perform his duties as Chief Diplomat, the President has 3 key powers. They are as follows:
-Power to Make Treaties: A treaty is a formal agreement between two or more countries. In order for a treaty to take effect the Senate must approve it.
-Power to Make Executive Agreements: Executive Agreements are pacts between the President and the leader or leaders of other countries. These have the same legal status as a treaty but do not require approval of the Senate.
-Power to Recognize Foreign Governments: The President receives ambassadors of other countries. By doing this, the President officially recognizes the legitimacy of foreign governments.