The Constitutional Powers of the President - Essay Example

The constitutional powers of the President to prepare and present an annual budget for congressional approval

The president of the United States has significant powers granted to him by the constitution of the land. The president faces many challenges in his role of administering the country. To ensure the smooth running of the government and checks and balances in the budget, the president works with both the congress and the Senate to overcome the challenges that may arise in the course of making and implementing budget policies. Being the president of the country, he or she must be able to manage the intricate domestic and foreign policies which affect how the country operates (McCaffery, 2011).

According to the United States Constitution, Article II establishes the executive arm of government which gives the president the powers of the nation’s chief executive who is tasked with the duty of implementing the laws and policies of the country. Under the constitution of the United States, the president has the power and mandate to execute and enforce laws passed by the legislative arm of the government. The president has different leadership roles which fall under the vast field of authority and responsibility. According to Article II of the constitution, the constitution gives the president the authority to execute both domestic and foreign policies that shape the economy of the land (Lambert, 2013).

Being the nation’s chief executive officer, the president has the responsibility of ensuring that the laws of the land are executed in accordance with the constitution. On matters of the budget and economy of the country, the president manages the departments and agencies of the executive arms of the government. The president is, however, supposed to seek the approval and guidance of the Senate when making important decisions that may affect the economy of the country. The president also appoints and directs the heads of different government agencies who help him in the implementation of programs and policies that are passed by the congress. According to the constitution of the United States, the president has constitutional legislative powers in two categories. Signing and vetoing bills presented by congress and recommending legislation that he wishes will help deliver his or her economic agenda.

The constitution, however, fails to provide clear guidelines on how the president of the United States can recommend legislation to congress and the Senate. According to Article II of the constitution, the president shall regularly give the congress information regarding the state of the union and recommend how certain measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. According to the White House, the president shall regularly instruct the congress on the state of the union. In return, the congress has stretched the role of the president to the preparation of the budget. Before the year 1920, the congress had the role of preparing the budget. However, the work of preparing the budget by congress was regarded as a poor job. The 1921 Budgeting and Accounting Act was done by congress which gave the president the power of preparing the budget of the country. The act also required the president to give regular reports on annual budget to congress (Congress Budget Committee, 2013).

It is the 1921 Budgeting and Accounting Act that has led to the current roles and responsibility of the president in the formulation of the budget. The president of the United States has since then had his role in preparing and submitting the budget estimates to congress. The role of the president to develop the annual budget stems from the 1921 legislation as opposed to constitutional powers.

Since the constitution does not give the president the role and responsibility to prepare the budget, congress could take back the responsibility of budget preparation as was given through legislation. If the president does not have the controlling numbers in the congress, the budget is done by congress anyway since the opposition is likely to oppose the president’s budget estimates. The congress also gives the president the power to manage the economy. In 1946 for instance, the employment Act obligated the resident of the United States to evaluate the economy of the country. The president is supposed to assess the economy by assessing existing and future trends of purchasing power, employment, and production. The Employment Act also required the president to deliver an economic report to congress. Other roles of the president on matters of budget formulation include removing unnecessary spending that would strain the economy of the country. The 1996 Act, for instance, gave the president line-item veto power. This is because balancing the budget is not only done from the economic perspective but also from the political concept. The budget involves political party players, interest groups, policymakers and the public. All the players in the budget preparation process compete to have the portion of the funds which makes the process complex (Burman, 2011).

Current budgeting process regarding policy changes and their consistency with constitutionally enumerated powers.

Since the adoption of the congressional budget in the mid-1970s, the procedure has not been consistent with the powers enumerated in the constitution. Conflicts between the stakeholders in the budget preparation process have made it hard to streamline the process. Congress has found its way back to the regular order as intended by the Budget Act which gave the president the power and mandate to prepare the budget as opposed to the constitutional provision that gives the congress the power to prepare the country’s budget.

Concerned analysts and legislators have, however, made proposals on how to make the budgeting process in accordance with the constitution. Politics of the day play an important role as the president uses his or her party strength in congress to push for his political agenda. Since budgeting is a critical aspect of governing the nation, an assertive and vigorous practice of congressional budgeting should be the primary means of maintaining the constitutional principles. The congress should not delegate its role to the executive. It should ensure meaningful governing policies are implemented through the budgeting process as outlined in the constitution.

There are various changes in the budgeting process that affects the constitutional order. One of the changes is institutional changes. Some initial proposals that affect the enumerated constitutional powers is the changes where congressional committees that deal with a budget can be altered. To return to the constitutional order, it is important to streamline the budget practices and the legislative procedures. Enhanced budget disciplines is another area of reform that has been taking place affecting the budgeting process. Some of the proposals that aim at revitalizing the constitutional order in budget preparation aim at limiting the level of spending and adhering to budget rules and regulations.

The budgeting process should ratify the constitutional framework as a fundamental aspect of ensuring the process is done in accordance with the constitution. Some of the reforms that can streamline the budgeting process include limiting the government. The United States Constitution provides a framework on how the process should be carried out. If the constitution is followed to the letter, it would be easier to limit government spending and therefore ensure checks and balances in the national budget. Fulfilling the congress constitutional role would also reform the budgeting process. Over the years, the congress had delegated the role of budget preparation to the president. It is the role of the congress to establish critical priorities for the government and set the legislative agenda. The 1920 budgeting and accounting Act had a retrogressive approach to the budgeting process as it gave the president the responsibility of preparing the budget contrary to the provisions of the constitution (Trutko, 2012).

Another important reform is reinforcing the balance of powers among the three arms of the government. Define congressional responsibilities and other agencies involved in the budgeting process could go a long way in ensuring constitutional order in the budgeting process. Such reforms as proposed by some legislators would prevent the president from unduly dominating the budgeting process. The balance of power is a dynamic balance that requires the congress to assert its authority and not just to assume it. The process of creating a budget requires the congress to vigorously exercise the power of the purse. The failures of congress in the budgeting process have led to policymaking through the bureaucracy which leads to an opaque government that is protected from oversight.

Complexities in the current procedures have contributed to the frequently missed deadlines and frustrations in the congressional budgeting. To deal with the challenges involved in the budgeting process, there is need to streamline the functions of the congress and congressional committees dealing with budget issues.