How significant are the powers of EXOP PDF

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EXOP powers...

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How significant are the powers of EXOP? (15)

Significance  EXOP are close political allies, so the heads have the ability to see the President every single day or most days, giving them greater importance on the day to day dealings. There is a close proximity to the President. – A member of the George Bush Administration said that ‘if an officer wanted to talk one on one with the president then that cabinet officer would first talk either with himself or chief of staff’. – Nixon ‘don’t underestimate the power of proximity’  Powers of the EXOP are significant dependent on their position - For example, the chief of staf has a significant role - president Eisenhower known only to read documents including the letters "OK SA" as it was the role of his Chief of staf Sherman Adams to "okay" the mails. This is a position of high responsibility and have the role of controlling what goes in and out - acting as a gateway - to the president. This therefore is a significant power as whilst they cannot influence legislation and be asked by the president of their opinion like he may do with the cabinet, the EXOP are much more loyal and have the ability to decipher who he sees. (They are not distracted by their department but the only role is to be faithful to the president)  Loyalty – EXOP only have loyalty to the president and not to a diferent branch. They are more trusted with the powers as they are loyal to the president and can focus on their roles efficiently and efectively.

Limitations  Having 2000 people in the EXOP, is a limitation as there is too many people and this may lead to inefficiency and not everyone has direct link to the president so therefore there is not always strong influence.  Members of EXOPP only have significant power if they are given it by the President, and can handle administration/advising due to previous political experience. A lack of political experience can hinder this - Trump's first chief of staf Reince Priebus had only served as chairman of the Republican National Committee before (little experience), and was described to have been 'in way over his head'. He was blamed for lots of the Trump administration's self-inflicted crises.  Paperwork and telephone calls to the President are screened by the White House Office to decided who should and should not be put through to the president. - Eisenhower only read documents approved by his chief of staf, Sherman Adams. This means that one person approves of documents written by the rest of EXOP, who is not politically neutral and can approve documents in a politically biased way. This also shows the EXOP’s documents aren’t always read by the president – showing the lower down people of EXOP do not always have strong influence or power. Not everyone is significant in EXOP. Conclusion: - Compare and Contrast to cabinet - They seem more significant than cabinet due to proximity and are able to see the president more often. - However, they do not have the power to do this and control a department whereas the cabinet control a department. - EXOP can only advise...