Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The Unitary Executive

From Wikipedia

In American law, the unitary executive theory is a Constitutional law theory according to which the President of the United States has sole authority over the executive branch. It is "an expansive interpretation of presidential power that aims to centralize greater control over the government in the White House". The theory often comes up in jurisprudential disagreements about the president's ability to remove employees within the executive branch; transparency and access to information; discretion over the implementation of new laws; and the ability to influence agencies' rule-making. There is disagreement about the doctrine's strength and scope, with more expansive versions of the theory becoming the focus of modern political debate. These expansive versions are controversial for both constitutional and practical reasons. Since the Reagan administration, the Supreme Court has embraced a stronger unitary executive, which has been championed primarily by its conservative justices, the Federalist Society, and the Heritage Foundation.

The theory is largely based on Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive Power" of the United States in the president. Critics debate over how much power the vesting clause gives a president, and emphasize other clauses in the Constitution that provide checks and balances on executive power. For instance, some argue that the Commander in Chief Clause would be rendered effectively redundant if the founders intended the wording to be interpreted as a unitary executive. Others argue that even the King of Great Britain at the time of the founding did not have the unitary control that some proponents argue he had when justifying an expansion of presidential power. In the 2020s, the Supreme Court has held that, regarding the powers granted by the vesting clause, "the entire 'executive Power' belongs to the President alone".