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U.S. Government and Civics

Unit 7

The Presidency and the Federal Bureaucracy

6 topics · 24 practice questions · Free responseNot yet reviewed

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Notes

The office

  • Natural-born citizen, age 35, resident 14 years; 4-year term; two-term limit (22nd Amendment).
  • 25th Amendment: vice president succeeds; vice presidential vacancies filled by nomination and confirmation; procedures for presidential disability. Then the Speaker, the president pro tempore and the Cabinet.

Powers

  • Formal: commander in chief, treaties (2/3 Senate), appointments (Senate confirmation), pardons, veto, State of the Union.
  • Informal: executive orders, executive agreements, signing statements, the bully pulpit, executive privilege (limited by U.S. v. Nixon, 1974).
  • War Powers Resolution (1973): 48-hour notice and a 60-day limit without congressional approval.

Advisers and the bureaucracy

  • EOP (chief of staff, OMB, NSC) and the Cabinet (heads of 15 departments).
  • Agency types: departments, independent regulatory commissions, independent agencies, government corporations. Pendleton Act created a merit system.
  • Agencies write regulations using discretion given by Congress. Iron triangles link committees, agencies and interest groups.

Checks

  • Congress: oversight, funding, confirmation, impeachment (House majority, Senate 2/3). Courts: judicial review of executive actions.

Topics in this unit

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Practice

Which action requires approval by two-thirds of the Senate?
A president has served six years after being elected twice. Under the 22nd Amendment, he:
The president tells agencies to give priority to certain cases, and the directive has the force of law. This is:
Which group most closely advises the president on foreign policy and national security?
An agriculture committee in Congress, the Department of Agriculture and a farmers' group work closely together over many years. This is called:
The president sends troops into combat without a declaration of war. Under the War Powers Resolution, the president must notify Congress within:

Free response

Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.

Free-response question

The Constitution gives the president some powers directly, but presidents have also expanded their influence through informal means.

(a) Identify TWO formal powers of the president and explain how ONE of them is checked by Congress.

Show the answer and scoring guide

The president is commander in chief and can make treaties. The treaty power is checked because the Senate must ratify a treaty by a two-thirds vote before it takes effect.

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(b) Explain how presidents use executive orders and executive agreements, and why they may prefer them.

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Executive orders direct federal agencies on how to carry out laws, and executive agreements are deals with foreign leaders. Presidents may prefer them because they take effect without passing Congress or winning two-thirds of the Senate.

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(c) Describe how the Supreme Court limited presidential power in United States v. Nixon.

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During the Watergate investigation, Nixon claimed executive privilege to refuse to turn over recorded White House conversations. The Court ruled unanimously that executive privilege is not absolute and must yield to the need for evidence in a criminal trial, so Nixon had to release the tapes.

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