What a President of the United States can do and cannot do: the Powers of the POTUS under Article II of the Constitution
Trump has won the 2024 US election. Many have worried that his second stint in the White House won’t have guardrails. Here’s what the Constitution says.
The 2024 US election is finally over, and the voters have spoken. Former President Donald Trump is now the president-elect, and he will assume office on January 20, 2025. He didn’t just win the Electoral College by a handy margin, like in the 2016 race, but also won the popular vote this time around, which he failed to garner in the previous two attempts.
While the final results are not in yet, it looks like the 47th US president-elect will be able to count on having both chambers of congress in the hands of Republicans. After initial results, the GOP will control the Senate and predictions are that Trump’s party will also pick up seats in the House expanding their majority.
That means that all three branches of government will effectively be under Republican control with a supermajority of the Supreme Court to boot. Six of the Justices, three of which Trump appointed in his first term, are solidly conservative.
Just the idea of Trump returning to the presidency had many worried, including those who served in his first administration warning that a Trump 2.0 administration would not have the guardrails that were there the first time. Of special concern is that he has said that he plans to prosecute his enemies and implement “the largest deportation in US history.”
And then there is Project 2025, which was prepared by the Heritage Foundation and which he tried to distance himself from during the campaign, that is a blueprint to reorganize the federal government bureaucracy. And if implemented, would reshape the US constitutional democracy creating an imperial presidency by removing the checks and balances between the three branches of government.
What a President of the United States can do and cannot do: the Powers of the POTUS under Article II of the Constitution
Article II of the Constitution establishes the Executive Branch of the US government to be headed by the US president and lays out the duties and powers of the position. According to the Harry S Truman Library a president CAN do the following:
- make treaties with the approval of the Senate.
- veto bills and sign bills.
- represent our nation in talks with foreign countries.
- enforce the laws that Congress passes.
- act as Commander-in-Chief during a war.
- call out troops to protect our nation against an attack.
- make suggestions about things that should be new laws.
- lead his political party.
- entertain foreign guests.
- recognize foreign countries.
- grant pardons.
- nominate Cabinet members and Supreme Court Justices and other high officials.
- appoint ambassadors.
- talk directly to the people about problems.
- represent the best interest of all the people
But a president cannot:
- make laws.
- declare war.
- decide how federal money will be spent.
- interpret laws.
- choose Cabinet members or Supreme Court Justices without Senate approval.
However, over the years, Congress has endowed the presidency with evermore powers. A US president can also use executive orders to implement parts of their agenda effectively bypassing Congress.
During Trump’s first term in office, he faced numerous legal setbacks in the courts stopping his policies on deregulation and immigration. Less than 30% of his administration’s 246 attempts to implement some measure were successful in the court after being challenged before the Biden administration took over in 2021 according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Integrity. In coming presidents can undo executive actions taken by the predecessor or drop resistance to them being challenged in the courts.
Republicans have said that they plan to move quickly with the 47th US president’s agenda and their own. As part of Project 2025, “hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos” have reportedly already been drafted “that would lay the groundwork for rapid action.”
And the Supreme Court 6-3 ruled this past summer giving current and former US presidents immunity for “official acts” while in office. Juries cannot even be given evidence of parts of another criminal conspiracy that may involve an official act. The decision was paramount to giving US presidents the “power of a king” according to the Brennan Center for Justice.