Can Barack Obama expand his power?

Answer 1

Yes and no. All presidents are expected to work with congress: the president sets the agenda for his party and advocates for the policies he believes in, but it is congress that makes the laws. But in reality, nearly every president has found ways to get around congress at certain times. Barack Obama is no exception, nor were his predecessors. It is also true that many presidents have found ways to expand their own power-- this has gone on for generations, and while the press and the opposing party's politicians complain, it is not restricted to just one party. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have tried to expand the power of the presidency, as we saw in recent times with Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and to some degree Barack Obama.

It should be noted that, contrary to the rhetoric you may hear on talk shows, no president, including Barack Obama, can become a dictator: the constitution does not permit the executive branch to operate independently, and the other two branches (legislative and judicial) are supposed to provide a check (or a balance) to presidential power. But when a president in the majority party and the congress basically lets him do as he pleases, as we saw during the first term of President Bush, it becomes easier for that president to assume more power. Still, more often than not, there are restrictions placed on what a president can and cannot do. Mr. Obama can take certain actions without congressional approval, but how much he (or any president) can accomplish without the cooperation of congress is limited.