President as an Establishment

Executive Branch Largest Branch of the Government. President White House Staff Cabinet Lower Level Bureaucracy

Vice President Constitutional Anomaly According to the Constitution what are the two responsibilities of the Vice President? Take over if the President dies or is impeached Cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate

White House Staff Chief Advisors to the president As well as anyone else in the White House Closest Friends and Advisors to the President are on the White House Staff Don’t have to be approved

Cabinet Traditional, but informal designation for the heads of all the major federal government departments. Not Constitutional. Must be approved Used merely for a Party Building tool not an advisement tool Lincoln went with Geographic Organization Clinton diverse organization Leads to two observations you need to know Cabinet members do not listen directly to the President . They use their own judgment and expertise GOING NATIVE They are not the number one advising group to the president

2 Positions you MUST KNOW Attorney General (Jeff Sessions) Leader of the Department of Justice Solicitor General (Noel Francisco)  America’s Lawyer

Executive Office of the President Created by FDR in 1939 Permanent Agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president, OMB- Office of Management and Budget CEA- Council of Economic Advisors NSC- National Security Council

OMB The Most important and largest EOP agency is….. Office of Management and Budget Its Role is preparing the National Budget Report The OMB sets the terms of discourse (of the budget) for agencies as well as congress The Director of the OMB is now one of the most powerful officials in Washington

Budget Process President Proposes OMB writes the Budget Interest Groups and Agencies lobby for money to the OMB CBO examines the budget and suggests revisions to the House House introduces it and then it takes the normal steps of how a Bill becomes a law

President as Policy Maker “It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose” FDR

Setting the Agenda Starting with FDR, Presidents would send a legislative packet to Congress and try to set their agenda Agenda Setting A policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that gets attention of or is viewed by people involved in policy making

Main tool in Agenda Setting The Media Why does the president have an advantage over Congress in gaining media coverage? President speaks with a single voice, while Congress has many voices President represents the nation, while Congress represents states and districts The president is the national leader to the country President is more powerful than any member of congress

Lobbying Congress President must successfully lobby congress to pass his agenda Patronage-Jobs, Grants, and favors in exchange for support Party- Party Discipline and Campaign Stops Style and Force of Personality Leadership Persuasion

Policy Making through Regulation Major Policy changes can be made through Executive Orders Office of Homeland Security was established via an Executive Order Used an Executive Order which radically changed the Presidential Records Act Obama has used Executive Orders to completely change how we interrogate our Enemy Combats

Policy through the Budget Economic Policy starts and ends with the Budget President was given power of interjecting his views on the Budget during FDR’s presidency Congress still plays an important role in the Budget The lesson of 1998 – the year of the balanced budget- was that Congress, OMB, and the President all had to work together

Public Opinion The President’s Biggest Ally or Biggest Enemy President has a much easier time passing legislation when his popularity polls are up “Going to the Public” Going Over Congress and straight to the People and allow the People to put pressure on Congress

Approval Ratings