Article Two of the United States Constitution

[12] In Williams v. Rhodes (1968), the Court struck down as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause an Ohio law which placed heavy burdens on minor parties seeking to be placed on the ballot for presidential electors.

The Supreme Court upheld the power of Congress to regulate political contributions intended to influence the appointment of electors in Burroughs v. United States (1934).

There are concerns regarding the constitutionality of having members of Congress in the line of succession, however, as this clause specifies that only an "officer of the United States" may be designated as a presidential successor.

Constitutional scholars from James Madison to the present day have argued that the term "officer" excludes members of Congress.

Also, the president-elect's name is typically added after the "I", for example, "I, George Washington, do...." Normally, the chief justice of the United States administers the oath.

Andrew Jackson, while vetoing an Act for the renewal of the charter of the national bank, implied that the president could refuse to execute statutes that he felt were unconstitutional.

[22] Currently, the vice presidential oath is the same as that for members of Congress and members of the Cabinet, which is as follows: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

[26] Congressionally-authorized emergency presidential powers are sweeping and dramatic and range from seizing control of the Internet to declaring martial law.

While the Constitution nowhere requires a formal Cabinet, it does authorize the president to seek advice from the principal officers of the various departments as they perform their official duties.

George Washington found it prudent to organize his principal officers into a Cabinet, and it has been part of the executive branch structure ever since.

Secretary of State William H. Seward advocated the use of a parliamentary-style Cabinet government to President Abraham Lincoln, but was rebuffed.

In recent administrations, cabinets have grown to include key White House staff in addition to department and agency heads.

Then, in Burdick v. United States (1915), the court specifically said, "Circumstances may be made to bring innocence under the penalties of the law.

The president may also appoint federal judges, U.S. ambassadors, consuls, ministers, and other officers of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate.

In the quo warranto proceedings that followed, the Supreme Court ruled that the Senate was not permitted to rescind advice and consent after the officer had been installed.

After the Senate grants advice and consent, however, the Supreme Court has ruled that the president is under no compulsion to commission the officer.

In Myers v. United States,[37] the Supreme Court held that Congress could not limit the president's power to remove an executive officer (the Postmaster General), but in Humphrey's Executor v. United States, it upheld Congress's authority to restrict the president's power to remove officers of the Federal Trade Commission, an "administrative body [that] cannot in any proper sense be characterized as an arm or an eye of the executive.

Thomas Jefferson, who felt that the procedure resembled the speech from the throne delivered by British monarchs, chose instead to send written messages to Congress for reading by clerks.

His recommendations respect the equal dignity of Congress and thus embody the anti-royalty sentiment that ignited the American Revolution and subsequently stripped the trappings of monarchy away from the new chief executive.

[43] When President Bill Clinton attempted to shield the records of the President's Task Force on Health Care Reform as essential to his functions under the Recommendations Clause, a federal circuit court rejected the argument and noted in Ass'n of American Physicians & Surgeons v. Clinton (1993): "[T]he Recommendation Clause is less an obligation than a right.

Additionally, prior to ratification of the Twentieth Amendment (which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from March to January) in 1933, newly inaugurated presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties.

[54] Addressing the North Carolina ratifying convention, William Maclaine declared that the Faithful Execution Clause was "one of the [Constitution's] best provisions.

"[52] President George Washington interpreted this clause as imposing on him a unique duty to ensure the execution of federal law.

Finally, the president may not refuse to enforce a constitutional law, or "cancel" certain appropriations, for that would amount to an extra-constitutional veto or suspension power.

[58] It has been asserted that the president's responsibility in the "faithful" execution of the laws entitles him to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

[60] During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the privilege, but, owing to the vehement opposition he faced, obtained congressional authorization for the same.

In that case the Supreme Court refused to entertain a request for an injunction preventing President Andrew Johnson from executing the Reconstruction Acts, which were claimed to be unconstitutional.

Incoming President Jefferson was enraged with Adams, and ordered his secretary of State, James Madison, to refrain from delivering the remaining commissions.

William Marbury took the matter to the Supreme Court, where it held that the commissions were valid, and the courts generally had the power to order them delivered and should have done so (a ruling that established the principle of judicial review in the United States), but refused to issue the orders itself on the grounds that the law giving it original jurisdiction over such cases was unconstitutional.

Any official convicted by the Senate is immediately removed from office, and to prevent the President's Article II appointment power from being used as a de facto pardon the Senate may also vote by a simple majority that the removed official be forever disqualified from holding any future office under the United States.