The Tug-of-war between the President and Congress

The President and Congress often seem to be working at cross-purposes in foreign policy. To give just a few recent examples: - The administration requests funding of the United Nations, and Congress links the funding to an anti-abortion provision it knows the President will veto. This kind of tug-of-war between the President and Congress is not necessarily bad. Foreign policy disagreements between the branches are inevitable, and even, sometimes, constructive. Debate and tension can lead to useful refinements and improvements of our policies. American foreign policy always has more force to it when the President and Congress speak with one voice. Congress is our most representative branch of government. It best articulates the concerns of different segments of the population. When the President takes these views into consideration in formulating foreign policy, the policy that results is more likely to have strong public support. And foreign policy with strong domestic support makes the U.S. more respected and effective The President is the chief of U.S. foreign policy, and therefore he has the primary responsibility. In addition, the President can propose foreign policy legislation to Congress and can make policy statements that outline key goals of the Administration. The executive branch is the only branch of government that has the power to implement foreign policy, which gives the President another advantage that Congress does not have. Even when Congress has passed foreign-policy legislation, the President sometimes interprets it on his own, and can implement the policy however he wishes. Yet every administration has consulted inadequately on major foreign policy issues. Congress can also influence foreign policy. It can create (or threaten to create) foreign policy legislation that can alter the way the President must pursue a policy. It can generate ideas by passing resolutions that declare Congress ' stand on foreign policy issues. These resolutions have no official standing, but they do make Congress ' views known. Congress also has the power of oversight. All policies implemented by the President are subject to investigations and hearings by Congress. Consultation with Congress provides the President with a wider range of view than he may receive from his own advisers. The President is isolated in our system of government. No one, as George Reedy once said, “tells the President to go soak his head”. Cabinet officials and other high-ranking advisers serve at his pleasure. Their jobs depend on his favor, and they usually can decipher the direction in which the President wants to go. Members of Congress do not serve at the President 's favor. Their independence from the President gives their advice added weight. The President may not like, or take, the advice of Congress, but his consideration of it is likely to produce better policies. Another power they share is policy statements. Policy statements are they are statements that your employer and your administering authority must produce, setting out the policies that they have resolved to follow in exercising certain discretion. "Generally speaking, Congress does not try to upstage the president on major international issues but likes to keep an oar in the water," says Donald R. Wolfensberger, director of the Congress Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. But other experts point to a number of examples in which Congress has openly defied presidents, such as refusing to approve the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and 1920, the overwhelming defeat of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1999, and the ongoing opposition to approving the Convention on the Law of the Sea despite support by successive U.S. Presidents. But more often than not, good consultation will help an administration gain greater backing in Congress. It will almost always strengthen policy. The power of the presidency is such that the President will usually be given the initiative on foreign policy matters. When the President keeps Congress involved in the policy making process, and consults sufficiently, his chances for success with Congress increase. It is not easy to make our constitutional system for conducting foreign policy work. But, if both the President and the Congress understand their respective roles, make a greater effort to work together, and put our national interests ahead of partisan personal concerns, the country will be well served because a stronger, better foreign policy will emerge. The creation of foreign policy is a long, complicated process that requires both the President and Congress to work together. Sometimes the policy goals of each branch are at odds with each other. In these instances, the checks and balances provided by the Constitution keep either branch from crossing any lines. Each has the power to create foreign policy that is, ideally, in the best interest of the United States.

Works Cited

1. http://www.examiner.com/article/who-makes-foreign-policy-the-roles-of-the-president-and-congress
2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_docs
3. http://www.chacha.com/question/what-are-the-foreign-policy-powers-of-congress-and-how-are-they-shared-with-the-president
4. http://www.examiner.com/article/who-makes-foreign-policy-the-roles-of-the-president-and-congress
5. http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/pensions/glossary.page#.UlS1t3ko7IV

Cited: 1. http://www.examiner.com/article/who-makes-foreign-policy-the-roles-of-the-president-and-congress 2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_docs 3. http://www.chacha.com/question/what-are-the-foreign-policy-powers-of-congress-and-how-are-they-shared-with-the-president 4. http://www.examiner.com/article/who-makes-foreign-policy-the-roles-of-the-president-and-congress 5. http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/pensions/glossary.page#.UlS1t3ko7IV