Presidential Powers
...ent that carries out his always agrees with him and carries out his orders. He can make executive agreements with other countries and send troops to battle without Congress' approval. This means he can make life changing decisions for all U.S. citizens without government consent. He can also conduct undeclared war for sixty to ninety days without congressional approval. He can also postpone carrying out a person's sentence, forgive and free a person from serving their sentence, and lessen the severity of a sentence. So, if someone close to the president convicts a serious crime, the president can get rid of their sentence. This isn't fair to other criminals convicted of the same crime. These powers just need to be limited a little. We have a checks and balances for government officials. The Senate can confirm or reject appointments of many high-level government officials. So, this applies to when I mentioned that the president can appoint officials and make his own government. If he doesn't have a good reason for certain appointments, the Senate can just reject them. The Supreme Court can check the president's power of executive privilege through a hearing. An example of this limitation is the Watergate scandal. President Nixon tried to cover the scandal up by not letting any of his aides testify before the Senate Watergate Committee and refusing to hand over the tapes. The Supreme Court ruled that executive privilege didn't apply in the case. As a result, Nixon resigned to prevent from being impeached. The president also needs the Senate's consent in treaties between the U.S. and other countries. This is beneficial, because the biggest decisions betwe...