US Executive - EXOP

What Is EXOP:
  • The Executive Office Of The President: The umbrella staff agencies in the White House that assist the POTUS in carrying out major responsibilities.
What Did The Brownlow Committee Do:
  • They said the “President needs help” and EXOP helps to meet the extra presidential duties with a dozen officials and hundreds members of staff.
Why:
  • Because the size of the federal government has increased and the President needs help with things such as New Deal whilst also being on the world politics stage
What Does The White House Office Do:
  • Personal office of the POTUS (within EXOP), containing the staff who facilitate his communication with Congress, departments and agency heads, the press and the public.
  • Principal Function is to provide advice and support for the POTUS. They are never far from the POTUS.
  • Acts as a liaison between the White House and the vast federal government.
What Does The White Office Chief Of Staff Do:
  • They protect the POTUS, they are almost a deputy POTUS, they deliver messages to and from the POTUS
  • They shouldn’t look for their own interests, they should act for the POTUS. Some former staff have not looked out for the POTUS but rather for themselves.
    • They should protect the POTUS from harm in his Presidency
  • Jack Watson who was Chief Of Staff during Carter’s presidency said: “The COS rols is to see that all the relevant people have a full and fair opportunity to present their views to the POTUS. To act as an honest broker. I must ensure that the POTUS hears conflicting views and not seek to make a judgement for him”
  • The most famous COS was Andrew Card who was seen to be famously whispering into Bush’s ear on the day of the 9/11 attacks when Bush was reading a book to children. He said “America is under attack”
  • Trump’s COS came under scrutiny when his former job was the chairman of the Republican party. As Trump’s administration staggered from one problem to another it was the COS who came under scrutiny. “He is not knowledgeable of how federal agencies work, how the communications operations work”
What Does The Office Of Management And Budget Do:
  • The office within EXOP that reviews budget requests, legislative initiatives and proposed rules and regulations from the executive department and agencies.
  • They have three functions:
    • Advise the POTUS on the allocation of federal funds
    • Oversee the spending of all federal departments and agencies
    • To act as a kind of clearing house for all the legislative and regulatory initiatives coming from the executive branch.
What Does The National Security Council Do:
  • The POTUS official forum for deliberating about national security and foreign policy. It is part of EXOP.
  • The NCS would coordinate information coming to the White House from the State department, the defence department and the CIA and all the COS.
    • Like the COS, it meant to be a “honest broker” which argues both sides.
  • Nixon tried to cut out the role but Clinton, Bush and Obama returned to the “honest broker” role.
  • “They are the glue that holds the foreign policy team together”
  • When Obama was President the NSC took a back step as H Clinton was the Secretary Of State and she was a big name to have in the White House for Obama.
  • Trump has already had several people serve in this position. Michael Flynn resigned after 24 days when it emerged that he had misled the VPOTUS over a phone call he made to the Russian government.
  • Trump also removed the position and made it so when called the NSC would go to a meeting – he appointed Steve Bannon which showed how political he wanted his Presidency to be. But this arrangement did not last long.
In What Three Senses Are EXOP And The Cabinet Rivals:
  1. Physical Distance: Cabinet officers are away from the White House, around 15-20 mins away depending on the department. The NSC is a thirty second walk from the White House so they can always influence the POTUS and be called upon whenever he needs them be.
    1. Nixon commented “Never underestimate the power of proximity”
  2. Divided Loyalties: Whilst cabinet officers are appointed by the POTUS they can expected to be not be loyal to the POTUS because they have other loyalties. They do have a loyalty to Congress, whose votes decide their departmental budgets and whose committees can call them into account. They have a loyalty to the department they are working for and to the interest groups which the department has close links to.
    1. Dustin Hoffman wrote that “President Bush relied on the White House staff rather than his cabinet” – in this sense it can be expected that the cabinet officers feel as if they are outsiders.
  3. Policy ‘Czars’: The first term of Obama’s presidency saw this. It references the fact that certain members of the administration actually run the Presidency and not the POTUS. Carol Browner was portrayed as the energy and climate czar.
    1. They do have problems though: James Pfiffner wore that “they can confuse the chain of command the leave opens the question of who is in charge of administration policy. Czars are often frustrated because they lack the authority to carry out their responsibilities. That is that do not control the budget”.
      1. Obama’s cabinet resented not only the White House czars but the treatment they received from the White House Staff who felt as though they were treated as “minions” rather than major administration officers.
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