Chapter 10 Self-Check Quiz

Twelve multiple-choice questions and four short-answer questions covering the Vice Presidency, the Cabinet, the EOP, and the structural shift from Cabinet government to White House government. Answers are at the end. Take it without looking first.

Multiple choice

1. The Vice President's only explicitly enumerated, regular constitutional duty is: - (a) To chair the National Security Council. - (b) To preside over the Senate, voting only to break ties. - (c) To represent the President at foreign funerals. - (d) To certify the President's executive orders before they take effect.

2. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, did not: - (a) Codify the Tyler precedent (the VP becomes President, not Acting President, on the President's death). - (b) Establish a procedure for filling a vacant Vice Presidency. - (c) Provide a procedure for voluntary, temporary transfer of power from the President to the VP. - (d) Create a constitutional requirement that the President take an annual cognitive-fitness exam.

3. Section 3 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment (voluntary, temporary transfer of power from the President to the VP) has been formally invoked: - (a) Never. - (b) Once, by Ronald Reagan in 1985. - (c) Multiple times, including by George W. Bush (2002, 2007) and Joe Biden (2021). - (d) Roughly twenty times across modern administrations.

4. The Cabinet, as a body of department heads who advise the President, is: - (a) Required by Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution to meet at least monthly. - (b) A body whose existence and members are entirely defined by statute, with the constitutional foundation only in the "may require the Opinion, in writing" language of Article II. - (c) Constitutionally required to vote on major executive decisions. - (d) Limited by the Constitution to no more than twelve departments.

5. As of 2026, the number of executive departments whose heads make up the formal Cabinet is: - (a) Twelve. - (b) Fifteen. - (c) Twenty. - (d) The number varies by administration based on presidential preference.

6. The "nuclear option" in November 2013 changed the Senate confirmation process by: - (a) Eliminating the filibuster for executive-branch nominees and lower-court federal judges, lowering the threshold for cloture to a simple majority. - (b) Requiring all Cabinet nominees to undergo full FBI background checks. - (c) Eliminating the Senate confirmation requirement for sub-Cabinet positions. - (d) Establishing a 30-day deadline for committees to vote on nominees.

7. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), located within OMB, was established in its modern regulatory-review form by: - (a) The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. - (b) The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (creating the office) and Reagan's Executive Order 12291 of 1981 (giving it the regulatory-review function). - (c) The Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970. - (d) The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

8. Which of the following is not a component of the Executive Office of the President (EOP)? - (a) The White House Office. - (b) The Office of Management and Budget (OMB). - (c) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS). - (d) The National Security Council (NSC).

9. The "shift from Cabinet government to White House government" refers to: - (a) A formal constitutional amendment that reduced the Cabinet's authority. - (b) The structural pattern in which modern presidents increasingly govern through small circles of senior White House and EOP staff rather than through Cabinet departments and the full Cabinet meeting. - (c) A partisan trend specific to recent Republican administrations. - (d) A partisan trend specific to recent Democratic administrations.

10. The "honest broker" model of the Chief of Staff role is associated with which characteristic? - (a) The Chief of Staff personally controls all access to the President and screens out contrary views. - (b) The Chief of Staff manages the staff process so that the President sees a full range of options on every major decision, including options the Chief personally disagrees with. - (c) The Chief of Staff is one senior adviser among several who all report directly to the President. - (d) The Chief of Staff's primary role is to manage media relations.

11. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 establishes the order of succession after the Vice President as: - (a) The Speaker of the House, then the Senate President pro tempore, then the Cabinet secretaries in the order their departments were established. - (b) The Cabinet in order of seniority of their secretaries. - (c) The Senate Majority Leader, then the Speaker of the House, then the Cabinet. - (d) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, then the Speaker, then the Cabinet.

12. Vice President Mike Pence's role in counting electoral votes on January 6, 2021 was, as a matter of constitutional law: - (a) A genuinely contested question on which serious constitutionalists disagreed. - (b) Ministerial — the Vice President opens the certificates and the votes are counted, with no discretionary authority to refuse to count certified electoral votes. - (c) Discretionary — the Vice President had the authority to refuse to count disputed electoral votes. - (d) Subject to override by the Speaker of the House, who could direct the VP's actions.

Short answer

13. Explain the "Mondale model" of the Vice Presidency. What were its specific elements, and why is it considered the most important structural change in the office in the twentieth century? (3–5 sentences.)

14. Briefly distinguish among Sections 1, 3, and 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. For each, give the substantive function and one example or note about its use (or non-use) in modern practice. (4–6 sentences.)

15. Name the three core functions of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). For each, give a brief description of what the function involves. (3–6 sentences.)

16. The chapter argues that "both parties have grown the EOP" and that the shift to White House government is bipartisan. State, in your own words, at least two structural reasons (drivers) why this shift has happened across administrations of both parties. (3–5 sentences.)

Answers

1. (b). The constitutional language is in Article I, Section 3, Clause 4: the Vice President is "President of the Senate" with no vote unless equally divided.

2. (d). There is no annual cognitive-fitness exam required by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment or any other constitutional provision. (The Twenty-Fifth Amendment sets up procedures for disability adjudication only when invoked by the VP and Cabinet under Section 4.) The other three options describe actual provisions of the amendment.

3. (c). Section 3 has been formally invoked multiple times in modern practice. The Reagan 1985 case is contested (some say Reagan's letter was framed to avoid formal invocation). Bush 43 invoked it for colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007. Biden invoked it for a colonoscopy in 2021.

4. (b). The word "Cabinet" does not appear in the Constitution. Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 authorizes the President to "require the Opinion, in writing" of department heads, which is the constitutional foundation of the Cabinet, but each department exists by statute.

5. (b). Fifteen departments as of 2026: State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, HHS, HUD, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security.

6. (a). The 2013 Senate procedural change, executed under Majority Leader Harry Reid, eliminated the filibuster for executive-branch nominees and lower-court federal judges. (In 2017, Republicans extended this to Supreme Court nominees. The legislative filibuster remains.)

7. (b). OIRA was created by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (with a focus on paperwork burden) and acquired its modern regulatory-review function via Reagan's EO 12291 in 1981.

8. (c). DHS is an executive department, not part of the EOP. The other three options are EOP components.

9. (b). This is a structural empirical observation about how modern presidencies operate, not a partisan claim. The trend has occurred under presidents of both parties.

10. (b). The honest broker manages a staff process for full information. James Baker (Reagan first term, Bush 41) and Leon Panetta (Clinton) are often cited as exemplars.

11. (a). The order is: VP, Speaker of the House, Senate President pro tempore, then Cabinet secretaries in the order their departments were established (State, Treasury, Defense, etc.).

12. (b). This is not, in the technical sense, a contested constitutional question. The Vice President's role in counting electoral votes is ministerial. The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 codified this clarification, which had been the consensus understanding since 1789.

13. When Walter Mondale became Carter's VP in 1977, he negotiated a relationship that broke the older "afterthought" pattern. Specific elements: a West Wing office (not OEOB); a weekly one-on-one lunch with the President; full access to all presidential briefings and intelligence; the right to be heard in any meeting where decisions were made; and staff integration between the President's and VP's offices. The model is considered the most important structural change because every VP since — Bush 41, Quayle, Gore, Cheney, Biden, Pence, Harris, Vance — has built on it. The change happened by handshake in 1976, not by amendment, but it transformed the office.

14. Section 1 confirms that on the President's death, resignation, or removal, the VP "shall become" President (codifies the Tyler precedent of full powers and full title). Section 3 allows the President to voluntarily and temporarily transfer power to the VP via a written declaration to the Speaker and Senate President pro tempore; used multiple times for medical procedures (Bush 43 colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007; Biden colonoscopy in 2021). Section 4 allows the VP, with a Cabinet majority, to declare the President "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," making the VP Acting President; never formally invoked in American history, though reportedly discussed at moments in several administrations.

15. Three OMB functions: (i) budget formulation — drafting the President's annual budget proposal, including the "passback" process where OMB resolves disputes between presidential priorities and departmental requests; (ii) regulatory review — through OIRA, reviewing essentially every economically significant federal regulation before it is finalized, requiring cost-benefit analysis and interagency coordination; (iii) management — leading government-wide management initiatives in IT modernization, procurement, performance measurement, and (increasingly) AI and data governance.

16. Multiple structural drivers, not partisan choices. (i) Complexity: modern policy issues cross departmental boundaries (healthcare touches HHS, Treasury, Labor, VA, DOD; climate touches EPA, DOE, Interior, Agriculture, Transportation, Defense, State), requiring centralized coordination. (ii) Speed: modern political cycles demand response in hours, not weeks; White House staff is always there, while relevant secretaries may be unavailable. (iii) Trust dynamics: department secretaries develop loyalties to their departments, while White House staff are personal appointees without departmental constituencies. (iv) Communications: the President's message must be consistent across the administration, which requires centralized media coordination. Any two of these are sufficient for the answer.