What powers are vested in the Executive Branch?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What powers are vested in the Executive Branch?
Position‹3 of 4›: Judicial Powers (Article II, Section 2)
Argument1 of 2›: Grant pardons and reprieves

Not only can the President annually pardon turkeys on Thanksgiving, but the executive may pardon individuals for federal crimes. This power is not limitless, however.

The argument

The constitution clearly states that the president "shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

Premises

[P1]Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution explicitly grants the president the power to issue reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, except in cases of impeachment. [P2] The power to grant reprieves and pardons is judicial in nature, as it directly alters the legal consequences of criminal convictions. [C] Therefore, the Executive Branch is vested with judicial powers through the president's constitutional authority to grant pardons and reprieves.

Counter-arguments

Critics of classifying the pardon as a 'judicial power' note that the Constitution places it in Article II as an executive prerogative, not among the judicial powers of Article III. The power is exercised unilaterally by the president over the outcomes of the justice system, and many scholars characterise it as a check the executive holds on the judiciary rather than a judicial function proper. So while the pardon power is real and correctly attributed to the president, filing it under 'judicial powers' is contestable — it is more naturally an executive power with judicial effects. It is also limited: it excludes cases of impeachment and reaches only federal offences.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The text vests the pardon power in Article II as an executive prerogative, and it applies only to federal offences and excludes impeachment, so it is not straightforwardly a 'judicial power.' [Rejecting C] The pardon is more naturally classified as an executive check on the judicial system than as a judicial power belonging to the president.