Conduct foreign relations
The President 'receives Ambassadors', which grew into the power to recognize foreign governments, and by extension to be the nation's one voice abroad. Which governments the United States deals with, and on what terms, is an executive call.
Read the clause itself, verbatim and in plain language, in the in-app Constitution.
The President
How it works in practice
Recognition, diplomatic relations, and day-to-day foreign policyHow the United States deals with other countries: diplomacy, treaties and agreements, trade, aid, sanctions, and the use of force. Shared between branches.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) run through the President and the State Department. The Supreme CourtThe only court the Constitution itself creates. Nine Justices, life tenure, and near-total control over which cases they hear.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) confirmed the recognition power is exclusive in Zivotofsky v. Kerry (2015), striking a statuteA law passed by a legislature and signed into effect. Distinct from a regulation, which an agency writes, and from a court decision, which interprets both.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) that tried to override it. Congress still holds the war, trade, spending, and treatyA binding international agreement the President negotiates and the Senate approves by two-thirds. Once ratified, it is part of the supreme law of the land.Read the full definition (opens a new tab)-consent levers, so foreign policy is shared in fact even when the microphone is not.