Also known as: executive powers · executive authority
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Authority vested in the President of the United States to ensure that federal laws are faithfully executed and enforced. The vesting clause assigns this power exclusively to the President rather than to Congress or the courts.
Elijah Edwards, the President, orders the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reallocate safety auditors from routine projects to emergency infrastructure reviews after a bridge collapse. HUD officials follow the directive and suspend audits on selected sites. The action illustrates the President's authority to supervise execution of existing statutes through subordinate executive officers.
Elliot Edmonds, governor of State A, issues a formal demand to the governor of State B for the return of a fugitive charged with felony theft. State B authorities locate the individual and prepare transfer documents. The demand rests on the executive authority of the demanding state to secure delivery of persons charged with crimes.
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Ewan Eckhart, a state election official, challenges a federal court's refusal to recognize the sitting governor as the lawful executive after disputed election results. The court declines to intervene, citing the political question doctrine and the President's prior recognition of the governor. The ruling leaves the executive power of the state to be exercised by the recognized official.
Eduardo Enriquez, the President, directs military officers to seize enemy-owned property located within the United States during declared war. The owners sue, claiming the seizure exceeds statutory authority. The Court upholds the action as an exercise of executive power incident to the conduct of war.
Emma Erickson and other plaintiffs sue the Secretary of the Interior alleging failure to enforce environmental statutes protecting foreign wildlife habitats. The Court dismisses the suit for lack of standing, noting that the executive power to enforce laws belongs to the President and subordinate officers rather than private parties.
Emanuel Escobar, an alien facing deportation, challenges a one-house veto that blocked the Attorney General's suspension of his removal order. The Court holds the legislative veto unconstitutional because it allows Congress to exercise executive power without bicameral passage and presentment.
Executive power enables the President to supervise and direct the enforcement of statutes already enacted by Congress. Legislative power allows Congress alone to create new legal obligations through bicameral passage and presentment.
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No. Once Congress enacts mandatory appropriations, the President must execute the spending directive and may not unilaterally impound or cancel the funds.
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No. When Congress has assigned specific domestic functions to an agency by statute, a presidential order that displaces that assignment falls to its lowest ebb and is presumptively invalid.
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…principle enunciated in Springer v. Philippine Islands , 277 U. S. 189 (1928), that the Legislative Branch may not exercise executive authority by retaining the power to appoint those who will execute its laws. But it described appellants' argument based upon Art. II, § 2, cl. 2, as "strikingly syllogistic," and concluded that…