10
TRUMP v. UNITED STATES
Opinion of the Court
person who alone composes a branch of government,”
Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 591 U. S. 848, 868 (2020). The
Framers “sought to encourage energetic, vigorous, decisive,
and speedy execution of the laws by placing in the hands of
a single, constitutionally indispensable, individual the ulti-
mate authority that, in respect to the other branches, the
Constitution divides among many.” Clinton v. Jones, 520
U. S. 681, 712 (1997) (Breyer, J., concurring in judgment).
They “deemed an energetic executive essential to ‘the pro-
tection of the community against foreign attacks,’ ‘the
steady administration of the laws,’ ‘the protection of prop-
erty,’ and ‘the security of liberty.”” Seila Law, 591 U. S., at
223-224 (quoting The Federalist No. 70, p. 471 (J. Cooke
ed. 1961) (A. Hamilton)). The purpose of a “vigorous” and
“energetic” Executive, they thought, was to ensure “good
government,” for a “feeble executive implies a feeble execu-
tion of the government.” Id., at 471–472.
The Framers accordingly vested the President with “su-
pervisory and policy responsibilities of utmost discretion
and sensitivity.” Fitzgerald, 457 U. S., at 750. He must
make “the most sensitive and far-reaching decisions en-
trusted to any official under our constitutional system.” Id.,
at 752. There accordingly “exists the greatest public inter-
est” in providing the President with “the maximum ability
to deal fearlessly and impartially with’ the duties of his of-
fice.” Ibid. (quoting Ferri v. Ackerman, 444 U. S. 193, 203
(1979)). Appreciating the “unique risks to the effective
functioning of government” that arise when the President’s
energies are diverted by proceedings that might render him
“unduly cautious in the discharge of his official duties,” we
have recognized Presidential immunities and privileges
“rooted in the constitutional tradition of the separation of
powers and supported by our history.” Fitzgerald, 457
U. S., at 749, 751, 752, n. 32.
In Nixon v. Fitzgerald, for instance, we recognized that
as “a functionally mandated incident of [his] unique office,”
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
