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Further implications
The federal government of the United States is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, respectively. The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of representatives each state has in the House is based on each state's population. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population. There are currently 100 senators (two from each of the 50 states).
The executive branch consists of the President and those to whom the President's powers are delegated. The President is the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat. The President, according to the Constitution, must 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed', and 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution'. The President presides over the executive branch of the federal government, an organization numbering about 5 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel and 600,000 postal service employees.
The President may sign legislation passed by Congress into law or may veto it, preventing it from becoming law unless two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to override the veto. The President may unilaterally sign treaties with foreign nations.
The President has the power to pardon, or release, criminals convicted of offenses against the federal government (except in cases of impeachment), enact executive orders, and (with the consent of the Senate) appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges.
The interaction between the Congress, the judiciary and the President is intended to ensure a set of checks and balances between each branch of government designed to have the three operate within fair and reasonable bounds.
Fewer such constraints are likely to be imposed on Donald Trump as President. Both Houses of Congress are currently controlled by Trump's party, the Republicans. Trump achieved his party's nomination as presidential candidate against the direct opposition of some of the Republican Party's most influential members. He has proudly declared himself a party outsider and someone who has risen to high office without being beholden to power brokers within his party.
The cabinet Trump is currently forming has been criticised as one shaped very much in his own image, with a preponderance of wealthy businessmen and women and others whose views replicate the President's. The incoming President does not appear to be looking for anyone who will challenge his worldview.
In this early transitional stage of his presidency, Trump has also been criticised for not taking advice from national security advisers. By the end of November, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump had received only two classified intelligence briefings. A team of intelligence analysts had been prepared to deliver daily briefings on global developments and security threats to Trump in the weeks since his election victory.
Should the Trump presidency prove seriously dysfunctional it appears there will be few constraints that could be imposed upon it. The ultimate recourse of Congress faced with a President unable to perform his functions adequately is impeachment. A President of the United States can be impeached only on the basis of 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors'. For this to occur a simple majority of the House of Representatives must accuse the President of an impeachable offence and a two-thirds majority of the Senate must convict him or her. Given the secure hold the Republican Party has on both houses of Congress it is difficult to imagine Donald Trump being removed from office in this manner.