Executive Power

Obama Uses Executive Power To Bypass Congress

nytimes.com | Posted 04.23.2012

WASHINGTON — One Saturday last fall, President Obama interrupted a White House strategy meeting to raise an issue not on the agenda. He declared, ai...

Recess Appointments and President Obama's Surprising Restraint

Peter M. Shane | Posted 03.07.2012

Peter M. Shane

For all the brouhaha surrounding President Obama's recess appointments this week of three new members for the National Labor Relations Board and of Ri...

Promises, Promises: President Obama's NDAA Signing Statement

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 03.04.2012

Daphne Eviatar

Back when he was a candidate, then-Senator Obama criticized President George W. Bush for his frequent reliance on signing statements to circumvent Congressional intent. What a difference executive power makes.

Theodore Roosevelt Vintage Cartoons At The Library Of Congress

The Huffington Post | Arin Greenwood | Posted 11.28.2011

WASHINGTON -- "Bully!: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt" is a new book put out by D.C.-based Regnery Publishing. It's a biography of the wi...

Effective Immigration Enforcement, Not Failure to Enforce the Law

Donald Kerwin | Posted 12.06.2011

Donald Kerwin

U.S. immigration policy still needs to be fixed. The American people would be better served if Congress worked towards constructive solutions to this challenge, rather than engaged in political theater.

Obama, Libya, and Executive Power

Kent Greenfield | Posted 07.20.2011

Kent Greenfield

Up until this week, I would have said that George W. Bush was the most aggressive president in modern times in exercising executive power. Now, I can honestly say President Obama is giving "W." a run for his money.

To Hell with the Constitution: Obama Goes To War

Michael Ratner | Posted 05.30.2011

Michael Ratner

Barack Obama's decision to bomb Libya is another shocking example of his grab for the kind of executive power he eschewed in his predecessor's administration -- so long as he was still a candidate.

Not Defending DOMA: A Conscientious and Responsible Decision

Peter M. Shane | Posted 05.25.2011

Peter M. Shane

A distinguished fellow law professor, Adam Winkler, has recently argued that the Obama Administration's decision not to defend the constitutionality o...

The Power of the President

Mike Lux | Posted 05.25.2011

Mike Lux

Progressives need to spend less time commiserating over all the good things that Congress should do but won't, and more time thinking about the things Obama could do if he aggressively seized the reins of government.

Peter S. Goodman

Republicans Criticizing Elizabeth Warren's Lack Of Transparency Had No Problems With Dick Cheney

HuffingtonPost.com | Peter S. Goodman | Posted 05.25.2011

Recently enough that you may still recall it, a secretive, paranoid man who had previously headed a major multinational energy company found himself v...

Lucia Graves

Rate 10 Things Obama Could Do Without Congress

HuffingtonPost.com | Lucia Graves | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has the executive authority to bypass a hostile Republican House of Representatives and a bitterly divided Senate...

Doing Better Than Barack

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 05.25.2011

Michael B. Laskoff

Recently, I feel transported back to the Clinton impeachment. You remember: a married man who received oral pleasure from someone other than his wife ...

Shadow Elite: What's Behind Surging Executive Power? Globalization

Saskia Sassen | Posted 05.25.2011

Saskia Sassen

With a new emergent phase of democratic and quasi democratic regimes, can enhanced executive power linked to globalization be reoriented to better, noncommercial goals, like climate change, global hunger, or poverty?

Shadow Elite: Warrantless Wiretap Case & Obama: Abuse of Executive Power?

Janine R. Wedel | Posted 05.25.2011

Janine R. Wedel

Last week's ruling that the warrantless wiretapping from the post 9-11 era is illegal was not just a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration. It also slammed the current administration.

The Power of Promotion

Donna Flagg | Posted 05.25.2011

Donna Flagg

So in the end, who makes the best managers? Which individuals get the most out of their teams and produce the best business results for their employers?

Elena Kagan and the Limits of Executive Power

Andrew Sargus Klein | Posted 05.25.2011

Andrew Sargus Klein

Kagan may very well prove to be an albatross around the Obama administration, both in real time and in the textbooks, as she represents the Executive Branch far outpacing the courts.

The Problem With Elena Kagan Is Barack Obama

Cenk Uygur | Posted 05.25.2011

Cenk Uygur

Elena Kagan -- safe, no record, never challenged power in any meaningful way, never stood up for progressive ideology, beloved by the establishment in Washington -- the perfect Obama candidate. I'm tired of it.

The President's Power Tools

William S. Becker | Posted 05.25.2011

William S. Becker

On Capitol Hill, the ship of state is so bereft of rudder and sail that the crew is jumping overboard. The latest to abandon ship is Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Obama Administration Gears Up For Increased Use Of Executive Orders

The New York Times | Peter Baker | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON -- With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his execut...

The Silence of the Sheep

William Fisher | Posted 05.25.2011

William Fisher

I recently reported that Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged that "the U.S. may, with executive approval, deliberately target and kill U.S. citizens who are suspected of being involved in terrorism."

The Imperial Presidency

Gary Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Gary Hart

Statements by the administration that the president may be considering picking and choosing among provisions of laws passed by Congress, like Bush, are disturbing.

This Week In Magazines: Obama The "Self-Entangling Giant"

James Warren | Posted 05.25.2011

James Warren

No matter how much he might disdain the W. presidency, especially when it came to misuse of executive branch power, Barack Obama may be a "self-entangling giant" who is going down the same perilous path.

A Dialogue on Leadership in Uncertain Times: Session 3

Jan Birchfield, Ph.D | Posted 11.17.2011

Jan Birchfield, Ph.D

Humility arises when we see through the illusion of personal identification with power; this increases the chance that we will use it in service of something larger than ourselves.

I Want You to Sell Your Body!

Joe The Nerd Ferraro | Posted 05.25.2011

Joe The Nerd Ferraro

We grouse about Congress people prostituting themselves all the time. If we believe in health care, we may have to do the same, as it were.

Our Shadowy Government: Czars, Health Reform, And Bush's Resurgence

Harry Moroz | Posted 05.25.2011

Harry Moroz

Criticism of Obama and the czar "system" is overblown. In fact, a czar's power comes not from dictatorial authority, but from humble restraint.