Unitary executive theory

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The unitary executive theory is a legal theory in United States constitutional law which holds that the president of the United States possesses the power to control the entire federal executive branch. The doctrine is rooted in Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive Power" of the United States in the president.

The status quo is that the President of the United States does exercise significant authority over the executive branch, but that there are some exceptions. For example, there are independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve, and independent personnel such as special counsels.^[1][2] These limits on unitary executive power can be created by the legislative branch via Congress passing legislation, or by the judicial branch via Supreme Court decisions and interpretation of the law. Exceptions to unitary executive power in the United States have existed since the founding of the country, for example the at-the-time independent positions of Comptroller and Postmaster General, the independent Sinking Fund Commission, and parts of the United States Constitution that limit executive power such as the Opinions Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause.^[1][2]

There is disagreement about the strength and scope of the doctrine.^[2] In 2008, Steven Calabresi and Christopher Yoo described the unitary executive theory as ensuring "the federal government will execute the law in a consistent manner and in accordance with the president’s wishes." This stands in contrast to other scholarly literature, such as MacKenzie in 2008 and Crouch, Rozell, and Sollenberger in 2020, that stresses the fact that federal employees have to faithfully execute the laws enacted according to the process prescribed in the U.S. Constitution.