Can the president influence the content of legislation BEFORE it is submitted for his signature? what article?

Answer 1

Of course--legislation usually is not a simple one-item bill; it is a conglomeration of bills (sometimes called "pork" or "porkbarrel") that are inserted to sway a bill one way or another. For example, as a bill progresses, congressmen will attach riders or other bills to it. If it reaches the president intact, he will have to sign off on the whole thing, or veto it. So it you want to make the president look bad, attach a whole lot of "pork" to a bill he is sponsoring, and force him to veto it because it is too expensive, or contains provisions that are so unpalatable to him that he has no choice but to kill his own measure (like, gay marriage attached to his warrantless spying bill would be unacceptable to him).

Answer 2

Absolutely. Presidents do it all the time. It's called lobbying Congress. Presidents even submit their own bills, frequently, as Bush has just done with his interrogation bill (and McCain and others came out with their own bill instead).

No article necessary just to influence. As for actually introducing a bill, I imagine that's somewhere in the Constitution but I don't know the article. Check out the National Archives website and see if there's an FAQ - National Archives is the entity that houses the Constitution and has a lot of scholarship around it.

Answer 3

Bush's tax cuts would expire in 2010 without any legislation. That deadline was written into the bill. If Obama wanted to end those tax cuts earlier than 2010 new legislation would be necessary. Presidents can never rescind legislation. Only courts can strike down legislation that they decide is unconstitutional.

Answer 4

The president does influence legislation just as he is trying to do now so he doesn't get charged for violating the Geneva Conventions with his torturing prisoners and "detainees"!

He influenced and got what he wanted the last time they renewed the Patriot Act (Which is anything but) and still violated it with secret activities until he was caught!!

Answer 5

Yes, it happens all the time. If Congress knows he will veto the bill and they can't get enough votes to override it they change it to something he won't veto. Politically he can have other members of his party introduce bills that he wants passed but as far as the office itself actually writing the legislation while its under consideration in Congress, no. That is where seperation of powers comes into play.

Answer 6

Sure. He can influence it.

He can lobby, ask, cajole, beg, plead, whine, flatter or generally enage in any other free speech action to express his preference.

But what actually gets passed is up to Congress.

Answer 7

Sure.