Congressional Expectations of Presidential Self-Restraint

Description

This Element explores how Congress has designed laws reliant on an assumption of presidential self-restraint, an expectation that presidents would respect statutory goals by declining to use their formal powers in ways that were legally permissible but contrary to stated congressional intent. Examining several laws addressing political appointments since the 1970s – statutes involving the FBI director, Office of Personnel Management director, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, director of national intelligence, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, inspectors general, Senior Executive Service, vacancies, Social Security Administration commissioner, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director – the authors demonstrate lawmakers’ reliance on presidential self-restraint in statutory design and identify a variety of institutional tools used to signal those expectations. Furthermore, the authors identify a developmental dilemma: the combined rise of polarization, presidentialism, and constitutional formalism threatens to leave Congress more dependent on presidential self-restraint, even as that norm’s reliability is increasingly questionable. Cover Title page Copyright page Congressional Expectations of Presidential Self-Restraint Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Presidential Self-Restraint and the Separation of Powers 1.2 Method and Evidence 1.3 Plan of the Element 2 Fixed Terms 2.1 Federal Bureau of Investigation Director 2.2 Office of Personnel Management Director 3 Qualifications 3.1 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 3.2 Director of National Intelligence 3.3 Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator 4 Removal Reporting Requirements 4.1 Inspectors General 5 Caps 5.1 Senior Executive Service 5.2 Vacancies 6 Removal Protections 6.1 Social Security Administration Commissioner 6.2 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director 7 Conclusion 7.1 Polarization and Presidentialism 7.2 Constitutional Formalism References Acknowledgments