Chief+legislator

Term for the President as architect of public policy and the one who sets the agenda for Congress.

The Constitution provides many powers to the President but only a few in the legislative area. According to Article I, Section 7: "every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approves it he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections." That is the first major power of the President in the "Chief Legislator" title; the veto. However, this can obviously be checked by the Senate and the House to override the veto.



The second major legislative power given to the Chief Legislator is referred to in Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution: "He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." This is the power of giving the State of the Union Address, a power that has been used more since mass media became a big contender in getting the information to the people. Television, the news, radio, and other forms of media have broadcast the ideas, clips from, or even the address in its entirety to people around the country for years and will for years to come.

In recent news, Bush has used his veto power many times. These vetoes mainly have to do with Congress pushing for a set deadline to get out of Iraq. [|In recent news the push of this has grown greater but President Bush still vows to veto the bills.] Judging on growing criticism, however, this veto may very well be overridden.