Executive Power Under the Constitution

Catalog description

This course will address issues involving executive power under the U.S. Constitution, including the electoral college process; foreign affairs (including control of foreign relations, command of the military, and control over national security, surveillance, and the like); authority of the President over executive agencies (including the power of removal and the duty to enforce the law); congressional oversight, executive privilege, and impeachment; executive statutory and constitutional interpretation; extent of delegated power in light of the Major Questions Doctrine, the end of the Chevron doctrine, and the nondelegation doctrine; the budget process; and civil and criminal litigation against the president. Precise topics and readings will be affected by current events. The course will begin with an overview of the development of Article II at the Constitutional Convention, based in part on the instructor's book, THE PRESIDENT WHO WOULD NOT BE KING (Princeton Univ. Press 2020). Each topic will include historical context, relevant Supreme Court and lower court opinions, legal materials and commentary from outside the courts, and discussion of recent controversies. Grading will be based on class participation, plus a three-part take-home examination that will be assigned and completed in three segments during the quarter. Cross-listed with Political Science (POLISCI 326).