32
The executive branch of the US government, or specific parts of it, can demand that a person do particular things, when a statute has authorized such a demand. Such demands are not usually made at the level of the President of the United States, but the president could order a specific official to take such action. For example a National Security Letter ...
25
When and how are pardons supposed to be used? Why does the Constitution even grant the president the power to pardon?
The Constitution provides very little guidance regarding this point, and it isn't clear that the Founders were of one mind about how it was intended to be used.
Relieving Wrongful Or Doubtful Convictions
One important point to keep in ...
18
First, there is no definitive correct answer to this question because it has never happened over the course of 45 Presidencies. But, it certainly could come up. If the President purports to pardon himself for a federal crime and is then prosecuted, the judicial branch would have to decide if the pardon was valid.
But, I would disagree with the answer from @...
18
Let's start with the most important point first:
A campaign finance violation is not a ground to remove an elected official from office, no matter how egregious, on its own, even if one could prove that the campaign finance violation probably caused the outcome of an election to change.
Congress could decide, however, that a campaign finance violation ...
15
Presidential pardons can be used to pardon someone for any federal crime; if you are convicted of a state crime, the governor of that state has the right to pardon you. Impeachment is the only instance where the constitution prohibits pardons.
Of the founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton was the most supportive of Pardons and wrote about the need for them in ...
11
If President Trump refuses to execute the war, does that become an act of treason on his part?
Probably not, but it depends on the definition of treason. Congress could decide that it is, impeach him, and remove him from office. They could also remove him from office without using the term treason.
Is he required to act on such a resolution?
Not ...
11
The US legal code regarding threatening a president is 18 U.S. Code § 871 - Threats against President and successors to the Presidency. The first clause defines how threatening the president is illegal. The second clause starts off by defining "President-elect":
The terms “President-elect” and “Vice President-elect” as used in this section shall mean such ...
10
The Twenty-fifth Amendment states:
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the
President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Thus, in the absence of a majority the candidate would be denied the office.
9
Yes.
You can deny the President entry to your home unless the President has something that constitutes an exception to that right such as a search warrant. The President does not have any special right to trespass on private property.
You need not threaten the President to do so. You would simply say "no, I am not granting you permission to enter. Please ...
9
Yes. The absence of immunity for a U.S. President's unofficial acts was established both in the Nixon Administration and later in the Clinton Administration.
In practice, a prosecutor would be loath to file such charges absent very, very solid probable cause, and a court would often be very deferential in accommodating the President's schedule and, for ...
9
The use of the active duty military in a law enforcement role is not unconstitutional but it is prohibited by the posse comitatus act. 18 U.S.C. § 1385 (adopted 1878).
The text of the relevant legislation is as follows:
18 U.S.C. § 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus
Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized
...
9
The language argument about the constitution is that the Constitution uses the pronoun "he" in referring to the president – they would not have used the construction "he or she", or "s/he". Article I also uses "he" to refer to qualifications of representatives and senators (residency, age). Then in creating the office of predident pro tempore of the Senate, ...
9
There will be a gap in succession, but only briefly.
Speaker Paul Ryan's term extends past the election through the end of the 115th Congress, to 11:59:59 p.m. on January 2, 2018.
From there, the speakership is vacant until the 116th House of Representatives elects a successor. Traditionally, the House convenes at noon on January 3 of the year after an ...
8
The canonical example is Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon.
8
What Is Treason?
Treason is the only crime defined in the U.S. Constitution, at Article III, Section 3 which says:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war
against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and
comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the ...
7
If a President uses pardons too freely, and in what seems to be a corrupt manner, Congress could, in theory, impeach the President and remove him or her from office. This has never happened. How likely it might be in future is more a subject for the politics forum.
A pardon cannot immunize a person from an individual damage suit, or even from a later ...
6
A president can be personally sued, and does not enjoy universal immunity while in office, see Clinton v. Jones, 520 US 681 – in that case, Clinton was represented by private counsel. There are differences between that case and the instant hypothetical, the most prominent being whether such statements might be shielded because of executive privilege. The ...
6
Well, moral obligations are not laws, nor sometimes even moral obligations. Some laws are based on what some courts and legislatures think are moral obligations.
We think cannibals have a moral obligation not to eat people; cannibals think non-cannibals are fools for passing up a good BBQ. As for a leader's moral responsibility for millions of lives, we can ...
6
Technical violations can result in fine imposed by the Federal Election Commission. They provide this booklet, and these regulations are applicable. This regulation spells out how the fine is computed. The Dept. of Justice will handle any criminal accusations, and here is their handbook. To be criminally prosecutable, the act must be done knowingly and ...
6
There are two possible scenarios: The Vice-Presidential President and a mass Write In.
In the first, if the elected President is removed from office after 2 years in office, than the Vice-President (and the entire eligible line of succession for that matter) would be eligible to run for two terms, giving the Former Veep the ability to serve for a total of ...
5
From Clinton v. Jones 520 U.S. 681 (1997):
Deferral of this litigation until petitioner's Presidency ends is not constitutionally required.
[...]
The separation-of-powers doctrine does not require federal courts to stay all private actions against the President until he leaves office.
[...]
Nixon v Fitzgerald provides no support for ...
5
All of them.
The "cabinet" refers to the heads of the executive departments listed at 5 USC 101. "Cabinet" isn't defined in the Constitution or legislation, but this interpretation is supported by the American Heritage Dictionary (cabinet), the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, and some discussion in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 US 1 (1976). All of these ...
5
You're misreading the Posse Comitatus Act. The law does not say "the military may not be used for law enforcement." It says "the military may not be used for law enforcement, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." The Posse Comitatus Act was never about banning military use in law enforcement. It ...
5
Mr. Comey answered this in his testimony.
LANKFORD: Okay. Fair enough. If the president wanted to stop an investigation, how would he do that? Knowing it is an ongoing criminal investigation or counterintelligence investigation, would that be a matter of going to you, you perceive, and say, you make it stop because he doesn't have the authority to stop it?...
5
No (with one exception, see bottom), there is not currently any limits to the power of a Presidential Pardon. Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution grants the power:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he ...
5
§1 states what the design of the flag shall be (§2 mandates addition of stars when a new state is added). In essence, 4 USC 1-2 define what the flag is, and the rest of that chapter addresses what you can do with it. These are laws (passed by Congress), not rules or customs. That is, it's not a custom that the flag is 50 starts and 13 stripes, it's the law. ...
4
Sure Obama can sue Trump for defamation. Libel is a civil offense and committing libel is not a part of Trump's role as president. Regarding official acts, the President is immune. But not for personal acts. See Is the US President immune from civil lawsuits?
But a libel action would be difficult to win; they're both public figures, which makes the ...
4
Once a person is sworn in as POTUS, there are only two legal mechanisms for involuntary removal of that person from the office:
Article II Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides only that:
The President ... shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors.
The 25th ...
4
The US Constitution Article II, Section 2 grants sayt that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment". It does not anywhere say that a pardon can be rescinded. Until a constitutional amendment is added giving the president the power to rescind a pardon (zero chance of ...
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