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Presidential Power: President's Relationship with Legislative Branch

We have the University of Washington School of Law to thank for parts of this outstanding review of Presidential power.

Information About Congress & Agencies

Walter J. Oleszek, Cong. Research Serv., R41079, Congressional Oversight: An Overview (2010)

Curtis W. Copeland, Cong. Research Serv., R34354, Congressional Influence on Rulemaking and Regulation Through Appropriation Restrictions (2008)

Henry B. Hogue & Maeve P. Carey, Cong. Research Serv., R44083, Appointment and Confirmation of Executive Branch Leadership: An Overview (2015)

Christopher M. Davis & Michael Greene, Cong. Research Serv., RL30959, Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations (2016)

Information About Legislative Process & Executive Orders

Executive Orders and Other Presidential Documents: Sources and Explanations,  Research Guide from Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.

John Contrubin, Cong. Research Serv., Executive Orders and Proclamations (1999)

Legislative Process, Gallagher Law Library research guide lists print and online sources on bill drafting, legislative process, lobbying, and statutory interpretation.

Developments in the Law -- Presidential Authority, 125 Harv. L. Rev. 2057-2156 (2012).  Major Sections:

  • The President's Role in the Legislative Process
  • Presidential Power and the Office of Legal Counsel
  • Presidential Involvement in Defending Congressional Statutes
  • Executive Appointments

Suggested Readings

Art. I of the U.S. Constitution. Note that you can create a list of means by which Congress can control the President.

Mike Wirth & Suzanne Cooper Guasco, How Our Laws Are Made (colorful graphic of lawmaking processes). For those interested in reading the source material for this graphic, see John V. Sullivan, How Our Laws Are Made, H.R. Doc. 110-49 (2007).

David Weigel, Claiming mandate, GOP Congress lays plan to propel sweeping conservative agenda, Wash. Post (Jan. 1, 2017).

Jack M. Beermann, Congressional Administration, 43 San Diego L. Rev. 61 (2006). Link to an excerpted version. Link to pre-publication version (much longer).

Ronald M. Levin, The REINS Act: Unbridled Impediment to Regulation, 83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1446 (2015). Pages 1447-1453 provide an overview of the proposed act. The rest of the article is included for your reference. 

Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015, H. R. No. 427, 114th Cong. 1st Sess. (2015). Read this text of a version of the proposed REINS Act. (For status information see this page.)