General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This is not about Obama or Snowden, this is about the corporate takeover of our democracy [View all]HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)in the unlikely event that Sanders or Warren were president. The smears directed at Snowden -- coming even from sitting U.S. Senators -- are unseemly and reminiscent of darker days in the history of the Republic. (Have you no shame, Ms. Feinstein, have you no sense of decency, Madam?)
I'm pretty sure that Presidents can issue EOs, irrespective of who controls Congress. Thinking here of Truman's EO desegregating the armed forces. Of course, that ignores the real political costs of presidential muscle-flexing via EO (a variant, I'm guessing, of the "keeping gunpowder dry" argument). That is, a president who thinks he or she may require the assistance of Congress t a later date will be reluctant to take actions via EO that risk alienating that same Congress.