5.14 President and Congress

Lesson Overview

• Students Will Be Able To:

– Identify the formal and informal powers the president maintains as chief legislator

– Explain the effectiveness of the formal or informal powers of the president as the chief legislator

• Vocabulary-

– Chief Legislator

– Chief Politician

– Divided Government

– Legislative Agenda

– Pocket Veto

– Signing Statements

– Unified Government

– Veto-Signaling

Essential question- how do presidents use formal and informal powers to influence legislation?

The Chief Legislator (remember that means "Law Maker"

• As president, you represent the United States, one of the world's most powerful and influential nations

• Although Congress makes the laws (Legislative
Branch), they need to be signed into law by the
president

• Chief Legislator- the president can use the influence of the office to make legislative recommendations

– The president can approve or veto bills sent to them

– The president can call Congress into session to adjourn it (end it)

– They can influence public policy and recommend laws
to Congress

Veto Power

• This power is listed in Article 1 of the Constitution, which establishes the

Legislative Branch

• When presented with a bill the president can:

– Sign the legislation written by Congress making it a law

– Veto the legislation and send it back to the house of Congress it came from

– Do nothing about it and it becomes law after 10 days that Congress is in session

• Pocket Veto- Congress adjourns (ends) within 10 days of submitting the bill and the president neither signs nor vetoes it (keeps it in their
"pocket")

• Most early presidents did not exercise the power of the veto

– President Andrew Johnson vetoed 29 bills and Congress overrode 15 of them (a little over 50%)

– President Franklin Delano Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills (263 were Pocket Vetos)

If you were the
President of the United States, why would you
want to veto a

bill from

becoming a

law?

Presidential Signing Statements

• Presidential Signing Statements- official pronouncements issued by the president at or near the time the bill is signed into law

– Has no legal status and is not part of the legislative process

– They are an informal way for presidents to give their interpretation of the law and any objections they might have

• Example-

– President George W. Bush said in a signing statement that because he was the commander-and-chief and head of the executive branch, that a new lawing banning military torture was
unconstitutional

• The president has no power/authority to change a law only to approve or reject it

• However, these statements have been used by presidents since the early 19th century

The President's Agenda

• Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution lists a very important

presidential duty

• It requires them to deliver reports on how the country is doing, basically a speech to all branches of the government and the people

• This is called the "State of the Union", and it contains the

Legislative Agenda- the president's priorities for congressional attention.

• Examples-

– In the 2010 State of the Union, then President Obama talked about
the positive effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Passed in response to the 2008 Financial Crisis)

– In the 1948 State of the Union, then President Harry Truman urged
Congress to pass legislation on inflation, housing, and civil rights

Chief Politician

• Presidents work hard to keep the public support that got them
elected and to monitor how their administration is covered in the media.

• The role of Chief Politician- leader of the political party because
they are the highest-ranking elected official of that party

– This is not a power in the Constitution that is given to the president

– Presidents use this leadership role to maintain political party unity and push their legislative agendas

• This is easier when there is a Unified Government- when the
majority party in Congress and the President are the same political party

• The flip side is Divided Government- when the president's political
party and the majority party are different

• When working with the Legislative Branch the Vice President can be
an important ally for the president

Essential Question- How do presidents use formal and informal powers to influence legislation?

• The president has the role of chief legislator because of the powers granted by the Constitution related to signing bills and interacting with Congress.

• The president can influence legislation before it is passed using veto-signaling and add their comments about a new law by issuing a signing statement, however, the signing statement has no legal effect on the law.

• Modern-era presidents set a legislative agenda that they often highlight during the State of the Union address.

• As the chief politician, the president must work with Congress and other political parties to gain support for the president’s legislative agenda.