Watergate, Anti-Nixon Backlash, and Ford

• For next time, Califano excerpts on Canvas. (Posting this afternoon)
• Oral presentations
• A look back at the Erie Canal: technology, literal path dependency, federalism

The policy decisions of 1973 reflected a very different partisan landscape from today.  Those acts are very much in play.

January 22, 1973: Roe v. Wade (Johnson 272-273)

• Nixon appointee Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion.
• Nixon made no public comment.
• Not the lead story in the NYT
• Not yet an evangelical issue
• Not yet a partisan issue. Gallup Poll, Wash Post 8/25/1972:

The Watergate Window

• Nixon's political standing weakens
• Nixon drinks too much and checks out of the presidency
• The 1974 midterm; Reps lose 48 house seats and 4 Senate seats

The result was a break from the late 20th-century pattern, with the impetus coming less from the president than from Congress in reaction to the president.

War Powers Act

The House overrode the veto with a vote of 284 to 135. 

Vote to override: 198 Democrats and 86 Republicans.

Vote to sustain the veto: 32 Democrats and 103 Republicans.

Senate roll call vote

The Senate's vote was 75 to 18,

Vote to override: 50 Democrats and 25 Republicans.

Vote to sustain the veto: 3 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

 IN THE NEWS

Political finance and transparency

• Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) Amendments of 1974 (Johnson 270-271) -- which Ford signed -- created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to enforce campaign finance law, instituted public financing for presidential elections, and placed limits on campaign contributions and spending, though SCOTUS struck down spending limits.
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Amendments of 1974: Overriding Ford's veto, Congress strengthened the 1967 FOIA by rolling back the executive branch's power to withhold documents and establishing specific time limits for government agencies to respond to requests. The amendments also gave courts the power to review classified documents to ensure they were properly designated.

Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974: 

• There was no budget until 1921 -- but it was an executive process, not a legislative one.
• What led Congress to pass a new law?  The unintended consequences of previous decisions.
• Stagflation limits fiscal choices (Lee).  Nixon's wage-price controls (Johnson 258) helped trigger inflation. Nixon himself admitted error: "What did America reap from its brief fling with economic controls?  The August 15, 1971 decision to impose them was politically necessary and immensely popular in the short run.  But in the long run I believe that it was wrong.  The piper must always be paid, and there was an unquestionably high price for tampering with the orthodox economic mechanisms."
• Deficits grow
• Entitlement spending grows
• Expansion of Social Security
• Creation of Medicare and Medicaid
• Nixon impounds funds.

Provisions of the 1974 Budget Act (SEE AN EXHAUSTIVE 2022 SENATE REPORT)

• Restricted the president's power to withhold or "impound" funds already appropriated by Congress by establishing procedures for the president to request congressional rescissions of appropriated funds.  Current issue
• Created permanent House and Senate Budget Committees to oversee the budget process and draft the annual budget resolution.
• Established the Congressional Budget Office to provide Congress with nonpartisan analysis, cost estimates, and budget projections to aid in decision-making.
• Created a process for Congress to adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget. This non-binding resolution sets overall levels for spending and revenue, which are then allocated to committees.
• Established a legislative process -- Reconciliation -- to allow Congress to make changes to spending and revenue laws to align them with the budget resolution targets.
• Since 1981, a vehicle for massive policy change.
• Changed the federal government's fiscal year from July 1 to October 1.