The President's responsibilities under the Constitution

[Leonidas]

A good primer for the upcoming election

Article II, Section 2

The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.




And some great commentary on these responsibilities from The National Center for Constitutional studies in a article by Earl Taylor Jr.

Six Areas of Constitutional Responsibility

The Founders contemplated heavy responsibilities for the President, but limited him to six areas. Here are those six areas of presidential responsibility as they apply to our own day. The President is:

1. Chief of state over 270 million Americans.

Notice this does not give the president any particular power other than to speak for us and to be recognized as our leader. As chief of state he does not have any power to make law.

2. Commander in chief over a military force of 3 million.

Certainly there is power in this authority. But the Constitution carefully limits this power. The power to build up a military, to fund the military, to call state militia units to active duty, to make rules governing the military, and to decide when the United States will go to war (except to repel sudden invasions) is given specifically to the representatives of the people in Congress and not to the president.

3. The chief executive officer of the whole executive branch of the government.

All of the executive power of government rests with one person. He employs people in the executive branch to help and assist him in his Constitutional duties. Any executive order which he gives is to be confined to this branch. He cannot make law for anyone outside the executive branch.

4. The chief diplomat in handling foreign relations.

He speaks to other nations for us. He is our chief ambassador. He is our chief negotiator. However, any agreement which he feels is necessary to be made with a foreign power is to be ratified by the Senate.

5. The chief architect for needed legislation.

Since no other public official's duty encompasses the welfare of the whole nation, the president has the charge to suggest legislation to Congress. An interesting example of a president who tried to confine his actions to those powers given to him by the Constitution was Thomas Jefferson. On one occasion he wrote: "The path we have to pursue is so quiet that we have nothing scarcely to propose [to Congress]. A noiseless course, not meddling with the affairs of others, unattractive of notice, is a mark that society is going on in happiness." (MOA, p. 250)

6. The conscience of the nation in granting pardons or reprieves when he feels justice requires them.

This is a most special power given to one person for the nation as a whole. This is the power to let compassion and mercy set aside the demands of justice.

A New Philosophy has arisen in Washington

The Founders would be amazed to learn that under the influence of a modern centralist philosophy, the President has been burdened with a host of other responsibilities never dreamed of by the Founders. Here are some of the things Congress has assigned to the President without the Constitutional authority to do so:

1. The responsibility of maintaining full employment for the work force of the entire nation.
2. The task of ensuring a high level of agricultural prosperity.
3. The task of developing a national housing program.
4. The task of supervising the exclusive distribution of atomic energy resources.
5. Underwriting hundreds of billions of dollars in private loans and private insurance programs.
6. Providing various kinds of federal relief for the victims of natural disasters throughout the country.
7. Administering a national welfare program.
8. Administering a national Medicare and Medicaid program.
9. Administering a national social security program.
10. Allocating billions of dollars for educating the young.
11. Settling major labor union-management disputes.
12. Administering a network of health agencies.
13. Administering the environmental protection of the entire nation.
14. Administering nearly 40 percent of the nation's land area and its resources.
15. Administering supervisory control over the discovery and development of all major energy resources.
16. Regulating all major United States industries such as steel, automobile manufacturing, coal mining, oil production, metal mining, and so forth.
17. Supervising all radio and television broadcasting in the United States as a prerequisite to issuing licenses.
18. Monitoring the manufacturing and distribution of food and drugs and requiring special permission before any drug can be distributed.
19. Initiating various types of federal programs on a regional basis to replace many powers and activities originally reserved to the sovereign states.

It is rather astonishing that none of the above additions to the President's powers and responsibilities have been authorized by a constitutional amendment.

Furthermore, they are all outside the original intent of the Founders as set forth by Madison when he said:

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."

The Founders Original Fears have Proven to be True

The concentrating of all this power in the executive department was done presumably with the best of intentions and with glowing promises. However, experience is demonstrating that this theory of "problem solving at the center" has turned out to be as counter-productive as the Founders warned it would be. Not only has it failed to fulfill its promises in the United States, but similar experiments have failed all over the world. It is what the Founders would call a "failure formula."

There is a gradual consensus developing on all fronts that this approach has four major drawbacks.

1. It is unbelievably expensive. Many things cost from double to a hundred times more when done by the federal government than they do when assigned to a competitive private contractor. Many studies have demonstrated the destructive and destabilizing extent of the cost factor in government today.
2. By its very nature, the Founders warned, government is sluggish and inefficient. There are some things it must do, but the Founders said these chores should be kept to a minimum because of the inefficiency factor.
3. It places billions of dollars at the disposal of the executive department which can be (and have been) used to intimidate both the members of Congress and the states.
4. It is impossible for one human being to effectively administer all of the things we have assigned to the President of the United States.

Certainly, anyone who serves as President of the United States needs our encouragement to fulfill his Constitutional role. As he sits atop an unbelievable, bureaucratic, almost uncontrollable government, the president most assuredly needs our prayers on his behalf.

Sincerely,

Earl Taylor, Jr.

[BAC]

I picked up the book mostly as a momento to a pretty remarkable presidential campaign (no matter how you look at it, the Paul campaign has been influential) ,but halfway through it I'll admit that I'm pretty impressed. It's a worthwhile read.


-B