Executive Privilege Pros And Cons

Executive privilege is a right held by the executive branch that allows the president to withhold information and while the Constitution does not grant this power to the executive explicitly, presidents have justified executive privilege using the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine and the role of the executive branch in foreign affairs (O’Brien). The sole organ theory also asserts that the president alone acts as a representative on behalf of the country when dealing with foreign nations and in issues of international conflict (O’Brien). With regards to the treaty with Great Britain, Washington has the ability to invoke executive privilege in this case based on implied and explicit powers in the Constitution, the separation of powers doctrine, and precedent set by the Supreme Court. Certain powers are implicit …show more content…
v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation exemplified the Court’s deference to the executive in dealing with foreign affairs, as the case dealt with the issue of whether or not Congress could delegate legislative power to the executive (“United States”). By deciding that Congress could not grant such power to the president, the Court in Curtiss-Wright effectively maintained the fundamental idea that the branches need to remain separate (O’Brien). In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, the Supreme Court affirmed the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine by ruling that the president does not have authority to issue an executive order ordering the seizure of private property without approval from Congress, effectively reasserting the reservation of lawmaking powers for the legislative branch (“Youngstown Sheet”). Youngstown established a framework for presidential power, which claims that a president's authority is at its highest ebb when the executive follows Congress's explicit or implied authorizations (O’Brien). Essentially, Curtiss-Wright laid out the executive's broad authority, while Youngstown acknowledged the limits on