Book contents
- The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump
- The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- 1 Going Public and the Supreme Court
- 2 Going Public on Pending Decisions
- 3 Going Public on Decided Cases
- 4 The Tone of Presidential Rhetoric on Supreme Court Decisions
- 5 Presidential Calls to Congress
- 6 Presidential Leadership of News Coverage
- 7 Presidents and Public Opinion
- 8 Going Public on Supreme Court Cases before the Modern Presidency
- 9 Conclusions
- Notes
- References
- Index
5 - Presidential Calls to Congress
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 December 2019
- The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump
- The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- 1 Going Public and the Supreme Court
- 2 Going Public on Pending Decisions
- 3 Going Public on Decided Cases
- 4 The Tone of Presidential Rhetoric on Supreme Court Decisions
- 5 Presidential Calls to Congress
- 6 Presidential Leadership of News Coverage
- 7 Presidents and Public Opinion
- 8 Going Public on Supreme Court Cases before the Modern Presidency
- 9 Conclusions
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 examines the effect of presidential speeches on Congress. To do this, we explore instances in which presidents call for congressional action, such as passing a piece of legislation or proposing a constitutional amendment, from 1953 to 2017. These types of calls to Congress occur in about 20 percent of presidential speeches regarding decided cases. We then follow up on these pleas to Congress by investigating whether Congress acted on the presidents’ requests by introducing legislation or constitutional amendments to alter the Court’s decisions. We find evidence that Congress does respond to the president, often introducing or passing legislation to alter the Court’s decisions consistent with the president’s calls for action. Thus, this chapter contributes to our understanding of how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches do and do not coordinate to interpret the Constitution.
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- The President and the Supreme CourtGoing Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump, pp. 104 - 124Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020