"At present, most citizens depend on hearsay for their opinions," Forum columnist Lloyd Omdahl says. "Practically none have read the Constitution, yet they expound on it as though they graduated from the Yale Law School. "
The founders believed, as James Madison wrote, that Americans possessed sufficient virtue to summon the courage and conviction to do the right thing in the face of the most trying
The framers of the Constitution inserted the Advice and Consent Clause to ensure joint decision making between the president and the Senate in the exercise of the treaty making and appointment powers. What happens when the aims, purposes and spirit of that clause are abused or circumvented by either one of the joint decision-makers? We focus this week on the ability of presidents to thwart the constitutional blueprint for advice and consent of the Senate.
Presidents possess considerable means to abuse and circumvent the Advice and Consent Clause, thus frustrating the aims of the framersâ constitutional design. Consider, for example, the ability of a president to utilize executive agreements and recess appointments to bypass the Senate.