Executive Orders are lawful only when they are grounded in the Constitution or an act of Congress.

Center for Free, Fair, and Accountable Democracy
Executive Orders are lawful only when they are grounded in the Constitution or an act of Congress.
The twenty-fifth amendment and sedition have been getting a lot of attention after the events of January 6.
The Unitary Executive debate is long-standing and remains unresolved.
Dissenters from the Unitary Executive Theory argue that Congress can regulate any presidential powers that are not clearly spelled out in the Constitution – so long as Congress does not obstruct constitutional obligations placed on the presidency.
Supporters of the unitary executive theory believe presidents may act without Congressional interference.
The trust-related debates about the presidency from the framer’s time continue to this day.
Populist or partisan presidents sometimes feel motivated to weaken constitutional constraints.
Free course on the presidency. One paragraph per day. Which statements about American political parties are true? They have to be pre-approved by the government.They help candidates mobilize and organize…
Countries with weak democracies host political parties willing to do anything to win.
Presidents can use their connection to the voters to bypass reluctant party leaders.
Political parties can empower presidents to set their own agendas.
Free course on the presidency. One paragraph per day. 2.14 Money is power. A president’s political assets can sometimes extend beyond leadership to include money. Under today’s campaign laws, presidential…
Political parties became more important as state legislatures directed their electors to follow the popular vote in their states.
Voters and political parties became additional sources of presidential power and accountability.
Test your knowledge.
The power to pardon creates some overlap in the powers of the presidency and those of the court.
The Twentieth Amendment largely removed the need for power to convene or adjourn Congress.
The president was to participate in law-making, with Congress in the lead.
The framers gave the President limited supervisory power.
Test your knowledge against these five questions!
The Written Opinion Clause appears to limit the President in several ways.
The Constitution is silent on the related presidential power to remove.
Several framers worried the power of appointment could be abused.
To faithfully execute the laws of the land, the presidency was assigned executive power that was mostly undefined.
Faithfully executing the laws of the land is one of the most important obligations of the presidency.
The framers feared that a president could be seduced by a foreign power to harm the country.
The framers feared a president could be seduced by a foreign power.
The President’s war powers were quite constrained.
The President would be fully empowered to act in defense of the nation.
The framers agreed that the President would command the armed forces – with several explicit reservations.