A Dynamic Relationship: How Congress and the President Shape Foreign Policy

R Street Policy Study No. 186, October (2019).

Abstract

To better understand what happens when the pendulum of power swings back and forth between Congress and the president, this paper examines the procedural and strategic dynamics that underlie the struggle between the two branches in the foreign policymaking process. It begins by surveying the constitutional framework in which Congress and the president compete for influence. It then details each branch’s respective powers under the Constitution and details two strategies presidents have used to compensate for their relative lack of formal power to influence the foreign policymaking process. The paper then examines how the struggle over foreign policy has impacted the general nature of policy outcomes more generally, and concludes by considering the internal challenges Congress must overcome to reassert itself in foreign policymaking in the years ahead.