 | Article Two of the United States Constitution: Encyclopedia II - Article Two of the United States Constitution - Section 3: Presidential responsibilities
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Section 3: Presidential responsibilities
- He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;
- he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;
- he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers;
- he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and
- shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
[parsing added].
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Clause 1: State of the Union
The President must make regular addresses on the "State of the Union" to Congress. Originally, Presidents personally delivered annual addresses to Congress. Thomas Jefferson, who felt that the procedure resembled the Speech from the Throne delivered by British monarchs, chose instead to send written messages to Congress for reading by clerks. Jefferson's idea was followed by future Presidents until Woodrow Wilson reverted to the former procedure of personally addressing Congress.
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Clause 2: Calling Congress into extraordinary session; adjourning them
The President may call extraordinary sessions of one or both Houses of Congress. If the two Houses cannot agree on a date for adjournment, the President may adjourn both Houses to such a time as he thinks fit.
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Clause 3: Receiving foreign representatives
The President receives all foreign Ambassadors.
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Clause 4: Caring for the faithful execution of the law
The President must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Some Presidents have claimed the authority under this provision to impound money appropriated by Congress. President Jefferson, for example, delayed the expenditure of money appropriated for the purchase of gunboats for over a year. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successors sometimes refused outright to expend appropriated money. The Supreme Court, however, has held impoundments without Congressional authorization unconstitutional.
It has also been asserted that the President's responsibility in the "faithful" execution of the laws entitles him to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Article One provides that the privilege may not be suspended save during times of rebellion or invasion, but it does not specify who may suspend the privilege. Congress, the Supreme Court has ruled, may suspend the privilege if it deems it necessary. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the privilege, but, due to the vehement opposition he faced, obtained congressional authorization for the same. Since then, the privilege of the writ has only been suspended upon the express authorization of Congress.
In Mississippi v. Johnson (1867), the Supreme Court ruled that the judiciary may not restrain the President in the execution of laws. In the case, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a request for an injunction preventing President Andrew Johnson from executing the Reconstruction Acts, which were claimed to be unconstitutional. The Court found that "the Congress is the legislative department of the government; the President is the executive department. Neither can be restrained in its action by the judicial department; though the acts of both, when performed, are, in proper cases, subject to its cognizance." Thus, the courts cannot bar the passage of a law by Congress, though it may strike down such a law as unconstitutional. A similar construction applies to the executive branch.
Article Two of the United States Constitution - Clause 5: Officers' Commission
The President commissions all United States military officers.
Article Two of the United States Constitution - The missing clause: Executive Privilege
Main article: executive privilege
The question of what information the President may withhold from the courts or Congress is contentious and undetermined. The Supreme Court has ruled that presidential communications are protected by a privilege that is "fundamental to the operation of government and inextricably rooted in the separation of powers under the Constitution." Executive privilege, however, is not absolute. In criminal cases, for example, the defendant can demand the revelation of exculpatory information in the possession of the government, but the government may choose to dismiss the charges instead of revealing the information.
Other related archives2005 appointment of John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Article One, Cabinet, Chief Justice of the United States, Denmark, District of Columbia, Electors, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin Pierce, George Washington, Impeachment in the United States, Jimmy Carter, Marbury v. Madison, Myers v. United States, President, President of the Senate, Reconstruction, Republic of China, Secretary of State, Speech from the Throne, State of the Union, Tenure of Office Act, Thomas Jefferson, Twelfth Amendment, Twenty-fifth Amendment, Twenty-second Amendment, Twenty-third Amendment, United States Constitution, Woodrow Wilson, declare war, executive branch, executive privilege, government, impeachment, inauguration, joint session of Congress, line of succession, writ of habeas corpus, writ of mandamus, writ of quo warranto
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Section 3: Presidential responsibilities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
