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President: Difference between revisions
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[[File: P20220408AS-1467 (52067437977).jpg|thumb|President [[Joe Biden]] with his [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] appointee Justice [[Ketanji Brown Jackson]] and (in background) Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] following Brown Jackson's 2022 [[United States Senate]] confirmation]] | [[File: P20220408AS-1467 (52067437977).jpg|thumb|President [[Joe Biden]] with his [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] appointee Justice [[Ketanji Brown Jackson]] and (in background) Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] following Brown Jackson's 2022 [[United States Senate]] confirmation]] | ||
The president has the power to nominate [[United States federal judge|federal judges]], including members of the [[United States courts of appeals]] and the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. However, these nominations require [[Advice and consent#United States|Senate confirmation]] before they may take office. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to [[United States district court|U.S. district courts]], presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of | The president has the power to nominate [[United States federal judge|federal judges]], including members of the [[United States courts of appeals]] and the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. However, these nominations require [[Advice and consent#United States|Senate confirmation]] before they may take office. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to [[United States district court|U.S. district courts]], presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant [[pardon]]s and [[Pardon#Related concepts|reprieves]]. [[Gerald Ford]] pardoned [[Richard Nixon]] a month after taking office. Presidents often grant pardons shortly before leaving office, like when [[Bill Clinton]] pardoned [[Patty Hearst]] on his last day in office; this is often [[Controversy|controversial]].<ref name="tws8nov12">{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html |title=Bush Pardons Six in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up' |date=December 24, 1992 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 8, 2009 |quote=But not since President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to former President Richard M. Nixon for possible crimes in Watergate has a Presidential pardon so pointedly raised the issue of whether the president was trying to shield officials for political purposes.}}</ref><ref name="tws8nov11">{{Cite news |last=Johnston |first=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html |title=Bush Pardons Six in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up' |date=December 24, 1992 |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 8, 2009 |quote=The prosecutor charged that Mr. Weinberger's efforts to hide his notes may have 'forestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan' and formed part of a pattern of 'deception and obstruction'.{{nbsp}}... In light of President Bush's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations.}}</ref><ref name="tws8nov10">{{Cite news |last=Eisler |first=Peter |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-06-clinton-library-foia_N.htm |title=Clinton-papers release blocked |date=March 7, 2008 |work=USA Today |access-date=November 8, 2009 |quote=Former president Clinton issued 140 pardons on his last day in office, including several to controversial figures, such as commodities trader Rich, then a fugitive on tax evasion charges. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign; $5,000 to a related political action committee; and $450,000 to a fund set up to build the Clinton library.}}</ref> | ||
Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is [[executive privilege]], which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[John Jay]]'s notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. While not enshrined in the Constitution or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the [[Watergate scandal]], the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[United States v. Nixon]]'', {{ussc|418|683|1974}}, that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal|Lewinsky scandal]], the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Clinton v. Jones]]'', {{ussc|520|681|1997}}, that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the [[Precedent|legal precedent]] that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/executive_privilege.html |title=Executive Privilege 101 |last=Millhiser, Ian |date=June 1, 2010 |publisher=Center for American Progress |access-date=October 8, 2010 |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609224239/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/executive_privilege.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> | Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is [[executive privilege]], which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[John Jay]]'s notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. While not enshrined in the Constitution or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the [[Watergate scandal]], the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[United States v. Nixon]]'', {{ussc|418|683|1974}}, that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal|Lewinsky scandal]], the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Clinton v. Jones]]'', {{ussc|520|681|1997}}, that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the [[Precedent|legal precedent]] that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/executive_privilege.html |title=Executive Privilege 101 |last=Millhiser, Ian |date=June 1, 2010 |publisher=Center for American Progress |access-date=October 8, 2010 |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609224239/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/executive_privilege.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> | ||