Who Determines America's Foreign Policy?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns where lies the authority and responsibility to determine foreign policy for the United States. The controversy between who has authority continues to rage in our nation because members of Deep State continue their attempt to usurp the authority of the President.


            Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified at the Democrat-led House impeachment inquiry last week and said that he was “deeply troubled” by President Donald Trump’s attempt to “subvert U.S. foreign policy.” His testimony was widely believed by those determined to prove Trump is a rogue president. Members of the Deep State continue to claim that Trump is acting in his self-interest rather than the good of the American people.


            Brit Hume at Fox News says that Vindman’s line of thinking has a “huge fallacy.” Hume says that Trump cannot “subvert” America’s foreign policy. “Actually, it’s the fact that the president is the constitutional author of foreign policy, so the idea he is ‘subverting’ it is illogical.” Hume’s statement is supported by the Constitutional Rights Foundation:

The making and carrying out of America’s foreign policy involve all three branches of government and a complex array of governmental institutions and agencies.

The president and the executive branch have the most significant role in making foreign policy and are responsible for carrying it out. With the advice and consent of the Senate, the president makes treaties and appoints ambassadors. The president can hold summit meetings with world leaders. As commander in chief of the military, the president, can, by executive order, rapidly project U.S. power around the globe. 

In forming U.S. foreign policy, the president relies on advice form the National Security Council. This group is made up of the vice-president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the nation’s highest military adviser). …

Congress also plays a role in America’s foreign policy through its power to set duties and tariffs on foreign exports and imports, regulate foreign commerce and immigration, and declare war…. But Congress is usually in the role of accepting, changing, or rejecting policies proposed by the president.

The Supreme Court plays a limited role in foreign policy. It has jurisdiction over cases involving treaties, admiralty and maritime law, and ambassadors and other public ministers. It also is charged with deciding disputes between states and foreign states and their citizens and subjects.

            It appears that Vindman, the Democrats’ “star witness,” did not know what he was saying when he said that Trump was subverting America’s foreign policy. The president, as the head of the executive branch, determines the direction of America’s foreign policy.