4.1 – Introduction to the Executive Branch
The executive branch of the federal government carries out or executes the laws made by Congress. The chief executive is the President. He is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President’s residence is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the White House, but the President is not required by the Constitution to live there.
The Vice President takes the place of the President when necessary, and becomes the President if the President dies in office. The Vice President also serves as President of the Senate. The Vice President can only vote when the Senate vote is tied.
The executive branch is the largest branch of government and employs the most people. It includes the Cabinet, the 14 large executive departments of the Cabinet, and many other agencies and organizations, such as the Post Office, the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the FBI and the CIA.
Duties of the President
Electing the President
People in each state do not vote directly for the president. The
President is officially elected by voters called Electors. Each state
has a certain number of Electors, equal to the number of members of
Congress from that state. Thus you add up the number of Senators plus
the number of Representatives from that state to determine the number of
Electors from that state.
The Electoral College
In November of an election year, the people vote. The candidate who
receives the most popular votes in a state gets all that states
electoral votes. Thus the Electoral College is based on the
“winner-take-all” principle.* It is possible for a Presidential
candidate to get more votes from the people (called the “popular vote”)
but still lose the election because of getting fewer votes from the
Electors.
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*in almost all states…
270 Electoral Votes Needed to Win
A candidate must get at least 270 electoral votes to win the
Presidency. The Constitution says a candidate has to get a majority of
the electoral votes to become president. Majority means "more than
half,” not “most.”
If there are only two candidates one will always get at least 270
electoral votes.
But if there are more than 2, it is possible none of them will get 270
or more…
What if no one gets 270?
So what happens if there are 3 candidates running for the Presidency and
they split the electoral votes three ways, with no candidate getting
more than half the required votes (270)? According to the
Constitution, if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes
(270), then the House of Representatives selects the president from the
top 3 candidates.
The Vice-President of the United States also serves as
The President of the Senate
Electoral College
The Electoral College is based on a winner-take-all principle
Each state's Electoral College electors equal the number of members that
state has in Congress. (Representatives plus Senators = # of Electors)
Overriding a presidential veto of a bill requires