Executive Power
The President Is Not the Commander in Chief of the United States, Nor Its CEO
by David Boaz, CATO Institute The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday that “the president is the CEO of the country,” and thus “he can hire and fire whoever he wants. That’s his right.”...
The Imperial President’s Toolbox of Unconstitutional Power
Presidents don’t give up power. Executive orders don’t expire at the end of each presidential term. And every successive occupant of the Oval Office since George Washington, who issued the first executive order, has expanded the reach and power of the presidency. The...
Constraining the White House Staff
We live in a world where an increasing number of things that are supposed to be done by the Congress are done by the executive. Treaties are supposed to be approved by the President with the ratification of two thirds of the Senate, but the President makes many...
On Presidential Prerogative and Executive Orders
Can the president really act as he wishes, simply because he has a pen and a phone? Not according to the Constitution. The trend in modern American government for many decades has been toward a strengthening of the power and influence of the presidency over and...