Powers of the President

This means that the president has the authority to execute (carry out or enforce) the laws passed by Congress (federal laws). This also makes the president the head of federal law enforcement like the FBI.

It is the president's job to oversee the many parts of the executive branch. We'll see more about these agencies later in the unit.

An executive order is a directive from the president that gives guidance about how to manage federal government operations. Executive orders can be enforced the same ways as legislation passed by Congress.

• heads of executive departments

• heads of executive agencies

• federal judges

• military officers

• ambassadors (representatives of US in other countries)

​

• pardon - frees a person from serving a sentence

• amnesty - group pardon

• commutation - lessens a person's sentence

• reprieve - allows a person to postpone serving a sentence