Presidential relations with Congress
The President and Congress both share and compete for power. The Constitution suggests Presidential involvement in legislation in two ways: First, in the annual State of the Union message the President may recommend for Congress's consideration “such measures as he shall judge necessary” (Article 2, Section 3). Second, the President can veto measures he disapproves of (though the veto is subject to being overridden by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate) (Article 1, Section 7). Though 19th-century Presidents often adopted a passive role, limiting themselves to administering the laws that Congress enacted, modern Presidents have defined their role as “chief legislator” as well as “chief executive” and have attempted to exert strong influence over Congress.
As the leader of his political party, the President tends to work through his party in Congress. When a President's party holds the majority in Congress, the likelihood of passing the President's legislative program is great. When a President's party is in the minority, stalemate can occur, a situation that has been called the “deadlock of democracy.” When such a “divided government” occurs, Presidents can seek to build bipartisan policies, as Democratic President Harry S. Truman did in promoting a bipartisan foreign policy during the Republican 80th Congress (1947–49). Alternatively, they can lambast Congress for opposing their policies and being a “do nothing” Congress, as Truman did effectively during the election of 1948.
Mandates to lead
Popular Presidents who have won election by a large margin assert that they have a mandate to lead. Under these circumstances, Congress will often follow the President's lead on the assumption that his program represents the popular will. But members of Congress also feel they have a mandate from their constituents, and they will often remain fiercely independent from Presidential leadership. Franklin D. Roosevelt won reelection by one of the largest margins in history in 1936, but the next year Congress blocked his plan to “pack” the Supreme Court, feeling he had overstepped himself. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, whose service in Congress extended from the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy, insisted that he served under no President, “but I have served with eight of them.”
Since a President's success is often judged by his ability to win passage of legislation, he spends much time trying to convince Congress to support him. In addition to personal addresses to Congress, Presidents assign certain staff members to act as liaisons with the Senate and House, lobbying for the administration's proposals and finding out what members of Congress want from the administration in return. Presidents will telephone members to solicit their votes, invite them to the White House, and otherwise twist arms, appeal to patriotism, and offer favors in return for congressional support. When all else fails, Presidents can use the threat of vetoing legislation as a means to force at least a compromise.
Disputes over foreign policy
In dealing with military and foreign policies, Presidents have often acted independently of Congress. Although Congress has the constitutional power to declare war, and the Senate ratifies treaties and confirms diplomatic nominations, Presidents often take action without consulting first with Congress. Congressional leaders complain that they are called in for briefings only after the major decisions have been made and that Presidents seek their consent rather than their advice. Members of Congress expressed a desire to be consulted during the takeoff as well as during the crash landing. They enacted the War Powers Act in 1973 to require the President to notify them whenever he sent troops into a combat situation.
Sources
- John R. Bond and Richard Fleisher, The President in the Legislative Arena (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).
- James McGregor Burns, “The Deadlock of Democracy: Four-Party Politics in America” (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963)
