President

Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, an acting official may generally serve in an acting capacity for 210 days, and that 210-day limit is suspended when the President nominates someone to the position until the Senate approves or denies the nominee.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes the President, upon declaring a national emergency in response to an 'unusual and extraordinary threat', to regulate importation.

Legal challenges to federal domestic troop deployments often center on whether courts should defer to the president's assessment that intervention is necessary to protect federal property or federal officers.

Under U.S. federal law governing the domestic use of military forces, a president's decision to deploy the National Guard or other federal troops is afforded substantial deference but must be supported by a showing of a rebellion or danger of rebellion or by an inability to enforce the law with regular civilian forces.

National Guard units have a dual state-federal status such that they can be under the control of a state governor or federalized under the President, and disputes over which authority controls particular Guard forces can lead to litigation between state officials and the federal government.

10 U.S.C. § 12406(3) authorizes the federalization of the National Guard when 'the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.'

Federal law permits the President to federalize National Guard members in cases of foreign invasion, a rebellion or danger of rebellion, or when regular forces are unable to carry out federal laws.

During a U.S. federal government shutdown, active-duty service members required to work and other federal employees can experience delayed or missed paychecks unless Congress or the President provides funding or emergency pay.

Federal courts have the authority to issue temporary restraining orders or injunctions that can block or delay federal executive actions, including deployments of troops to a state.

In 2025, the White House stated that the president has lawful authority to deploy federal forces to protect federal officers and federal assets amid violent riots or lawlessness.

U.S. district courts can issue temporary restraining orders that halt federal deployments of National Guard members.

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 requires the president to report to Congress any decision to withhold, delay, or rescind appropriated funds (impoundments).

The statute governing the Office of Special Counsel states that the special counsel 'may be removed by the president only for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office'.

U.S. Senators can introduce resolutions to officially express the Senate's position on presidential actions, including condemning presidential pardons.

Presidential executive orders can direct executive-branch officials to pursue actions such as entering information-sharing agreements with state officials or seeking to condition federal funding on state compliance with federal policies.

Prosecutors may assert that public statements by the President expressing the view that someone committed crimes are not, by themselves, direct evidence of a vindictive or discriminatory prosecutorial motive.

The U.S. Constitution vests the power to levy taxes in Congress rather than in the president.

Federalization or deployment of a state's National Guard by the President is subject to constitutional limits and generally requires a lawful showing of a rebellion or a threat of rebellion that cannot be suppressed without the use of military force.