This is the 99% of visible breakdown of the Constitution.

I'm Roman Mars.

And I'm Elizabeth Joe.

Today we are discussing Article 2, which establishes the executive branch of the federal government.

Our special guest for this episode is Janet Napolitano, who served as Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama from 2009 to 2013.

Prior to that, she was the governor of Arizona, so she has executive experience at the state

level as well, and she was the Attorney General of Arizona before that. After leaving the Obama

administration, she became the president of the University of California, the largest

public university system in the country. Today, she teaches at the Goldman School of Public Policy

at UC Berkeley. Later in the show, Elizabeth explains the Trump administration's attacks on

Venezuelan boats through the lens of constitutional law, but first are Article 2 conversation

with Janet Napolitano.

Secretary Napolitano, thank you so much for being on the show. Oh, thank you. So Article 2

establishes the executive branch using probably the vaguest terms possible. Section 2 of Article 2

contemplates that there will be a cabinet, but not much

is specified beyond that in terms of a job description. There's no required meetings, for example.

So when you were Secretary of Homeland Security, was that job an extension of what the president

wants, or is the president expecting you to come up with lots of policy proposals? Like,

how does it work in practice? Well, I think how it works in practice varies with whomever is the

president. I was secretary under President Obama, and it was a combination of things. You're a member

of the cabinet, so there's an expectation that you're going to be carrying

out the policies that have been enunciated by the White House. But those policies, particularly

...