Executive power

Make treaties

The President negotiates with foreign nations; the Senate decides whether the nation is bound. A ratified treaty joins the Constitution and federal statutes as supreme law of the land.

Article II, Section 2, Clause 2

Read the clause itself, verbatim and in plain language, in the in-app Constitution.

Held by

The President, with two-thirds of the Senate

President of the United States

How it works in practice

The President (through the State Department) negotiates and signs; the Senate consents by two-thirds of members present, often attaching reservations; the President then ratifies. Because two-thirds is brutal arithmetic, most modern international commitments are executive agreements or congressional-executive agreements (majority of both chambers), which bind, but which a later President or Congress can exit far more easily.

The answering checks

The SenateTwo-thirds consent, or the treaty never binds.

CongressTreaties needing money or implementing law still need ordinary legislation.

A later PresidentCan withdraw from treaties, a power the courts have left largely unreviewed (Goldwater v. Carter).

See it in the app

The Supremacy Clause

Source

U.S. Senate, About Treaties

Terms to know: ratificationFinal approval that gives a measure legal force: states ratify constitutional amendments (3/4 required); the Senate consents to treaties (2/3).Full definition in the glossary · advice and consentThe Senate's shared role in appointments and treaties: nominations need a Senate majority; treaties need two-thirds.Full definition in the glossary

Plain-language civic education, not legal advice. The live boundaries of this power are set case by case; the sources above and the constitutional text control.