executive agreement

Examples of executive agreement in the following topics:

• Chief Diplomat

  • Along with naming judges, presidents appoint ambassadors and executive officers.
  • Although not constitutionally provided, presidents also sometimes employ "executive agreements" in foreign relations.
  • These agreements frequently regard administrative policy choices germane to executive power; for example, the extent to which either country presents an armed presence in a given area, how each country will enforce copyright treaties, or how each country will process foreign mail.
  • However, the 20th century witnessed a vast expansion of the use of executive agreements, and critics have challenged the extent of that use as supplanting the treaty process and removing constitutionally prescribed checks and balances over the executive in foreign relations.
  • Supporters counter that the agreements offer a pragmatic solution when the need for swift, secret, and/or concerted action arises.

• The President

  • Throughout U.S. history, the President has also made international "agreements" through congressional-executive agreements (CEAs) that are ratified with only a majority from both houses of Congress, or sole-executive agreements made by the President alone.
  • The Supreme Court of the United States has considered congressional-executive and sole-executive agreements to be valid, and they have been common throughout American history.

• Vertical Checks and Balances

  • Congress is in charge of ratifying treaties signed by the President and gives advice and consent to presidential appointments to the federal, judiciary, and executive departments.
  • The executive branch (President) is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
  • He executes the instructions of Congress, may veto bills passed by Congress, and executes the spending authorized by Congress.
  • The president declares states of emergency, publishes regulations and executive orders, makes executive agreements, and signs treaties (ratification of these treaties requires the vote of two-thirds of the Senate).
  • He makes appointments to the federal judiciary, executive departments, and other posts with the advice and consent of the Senate, and has power to make temporary appointments during the recess of the Senate.

• Debate over the Presidency and the Judiciary

  • Most of the convention was spent deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, and judiciary were not heavily disputed .
  • The delegates agreed with Madison that the executive function had to be independent of the legislature.
  • Few agreed with Madison that the executive should be elected by the legislature.
  • A vocal minority wanted the national executive to be chosen by the governors of the states.
  • The Committee of Detail was a committee established by the United States Constitutional Convention on June 23, 1787 to put down a draft text reflecting the agreements made by the convention up to that point, including the Virginia Plan's 15 resolutions.

• Iraq

  • The invasion, referred to as Operation Iraqi Freedom, led to an occupation and the eventual capture of President Hussein, who was later tried in an Iraqi court of law and executed by the new Iraqi government.
  • In late 2008, the U.S. and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement, effective through January 1, 2012.
  • The Iraqi Parliament also ratified a Strategic Framework Agreement with the U.S., aimed at ensuring cooperation in constitutional rights, threat deterrence, education, energy development, and in other areas.

• The Executive Departments

  • The executive departments are administrative organs in the executive branch of the federal government.
  • The executive departments of the United States federal government are executive organs that serve under direct presidential control and act in an advisory capacity to the president.
  • Executive departments are internally led by secretaries, who are also members of the president's Cabinet.
  • Taken as a group, the executive departments employ over 4 million people and have an operating budget of over $2.3 trillion.
  • The Secretary of State is the highest ranking executive department office, and is currently held by Hillary Clinton.

• Lobbying Scandals and the Reforms of 2007

  • Details of the bill include closing the revolving door , prohibiting senators from gaining undue lobbying access by increasing the "cooling off" period before they can lobby Congress from one to two years, prohibiting cabinet secretaries and other senior executive personnel from lobbying the department or agency in which they worked for two years after they leave their position, and prohibiting senior Senate staff and officers from lobbying contacts with the entire Senate for one year, instead of just their former employing office.
  • Requires that executive and legislative branch employees who leave government positions and seek to lobby on behalf of Native American tribes face the same revolving door provisions as others.
  • Prohibits members from engaging in any agreements or negotiations about future employment until a successor has been selected unless the member files a statement with the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; and requires that members recuse themselves from any matter in which there is a conflict of interest or appearance of a conflict.
  • Requires senior staff to notify the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct within three days if they engage in negotiations or agreements for future employment or compensation.

• The Cabinet

  • This includes the negotiation of international treaties and other agreements.
  • As the highest-ranking member of the cabinet, the Secretary of State is the third-highest official of the executive branch of the Federal Government of the United States, after the President and Vice President.
  • The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense, which is an Executive Department of the Government of the United States of America .

• [PF content: The Executive Branch in Action]

• Subsidies and Contracting

  • A subsidy is assistance paid to business, economic sectors, or producers; a contract is an agreement between two or more parties.
  • Government must comply with the laws and regulations that permit it, and must be made by a contracting officer with actual authority to execute the contract.