Title: The ever-expanding power of the presidency - Washington Times
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The ever-expanding power of the presidency
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The ever-expanding power of the presidency
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By Tim Donner -  -  Monday, September 12, 2016
With the 2016 presidential race upon us now in full force, America is reaffirming its long-standing fascination with these quadrennial elections. In this age of social media, the prolific amount of ink and html spilled on the election makes the presidency seems more powerful than ever. And there is good reason for that belief: Successive generations of Americans have allowed it to happen. There has not been a president in memory of either party that escaped the accusation of expanding his power beyond the limits of the Constitution. TOP STORIES
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At the same time, the Congress has been most often accused of creating a power vacuum by failing to sufficiently exert its constitutional powers as the “people’s house” — that branch of the federal government designed to be closest to the people. It is a vacuum which many a president has eagerly filled. In Article II, the Constitution explicitly grants the president far fewer powers than most people believe. A president is constitutionally authorized to sign or veto legislation, command the armed forces, ask for the written opinion of his cabinet, convene or adjourn Congress, grant reprieves and pardons, and receive ambassadors.