U.S. Constitution · Article II, Section 3

Duties of the President

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Also known as: State of the Union Clause · Receive Ambassadors Clause · Take Care Clause · Commissions Clause

Live in the VFA record

Cited in 15 SI Solutions, 108 grades and 1 SI Think Tank idea this month.

170 public items cite this provision · 124 in October 2026 (last month: 0)

Week of 2026-08-03: 2Week of 2026-08-10: 4Week of 2026-08-17: 1Week of 2026-08-24: 0Week of 2026-08-31: 0Week of 2026-09-07: 0Week of 2026-09-14: 0Week of 2026-09-21: 0Week of 2026-09-28: 3Week of 2026-10-05: 97Week of 2026-10-12: 24Week of 2026-10-19: 0

Citations per week, last 12 weeks

The text

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

National Archives transcription (public domain; original spelling and capitalization). archives.gov

SI explainer

An explainer for this provision is in the queue. It appears here once it passes the SI Editorial Standard’s automated checks. The text, founding-era sources and live citations below are complete.

In the founders’ words

  • “to recommend to the consideration of Congress such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; to convene, on extraordinary occasions, both houses of the legislature, or either of them, and, in case of disagreement between them WITH RESPECT TO THE TIME OF ADJOURNMENT, to adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; to take care that the laws be faithfully executed;” Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist No. 69 (1788-03-14)

Public-domain primary sources, quoted word for word and checked against the linked text.

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SI Solutions (47)

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grades (108)

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roll-call votes (14)

Roll-call votes are listed when the measure voted on has a current Constitution Index grade citing this provision. Counts include only published items.

Cite this page

Values for America Constitution Explorer, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution (text: National Archives transcription, public domain), Article II, Section 3, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution/article-2/section-3

Data: this provision as JSON.