erson, and Jackson among them, took a very
different line, albeit less boldly and persistently than their later
imitators.[331] Today there is no subject on which the President may not
appropriately communicate to Congress, in as precise terms as he
chooses, his conception of its duty. Conversely, the President is not
obliged by this clause to impart information which, in his judgment,
should in the public interest be withheld.[332] The President has
frequently summoned both Houses into "extra" or "special sessions" for
legislative purposes, and the Senate alone for the consideration of
nominations and treaties. His power to adjourn the Houses has never been
exercised.

The Right of Reception

SCOPE OF THE POWER

"Ambassadors and other public ministers" embraces not only "all possible
diplomatic agents which any foreign power may accredit to the United
States"[333] but also, as a practical construction of the Constitution,
all foreign consular agents, who therefore may not exercise their
functions in the United States without an exequatur from the
President.[334] The power to "receive" ambassadors, etc., includes,
moreover, the right to refuse to receive them, to request their recall,
to dismiss them, and to determine their eligibility under our laws.[335]
Furthermore, this power makes the President the sole mouthpiece of the
nation in its dealings with other nations.

A PRESIDENTIAL MONOPOLY

Wrote Jefferson in 1790: "The transaction of business with foreign
nations is Executive altogether. It belongs, then, to the head of that
department, except as to such portions of it as are specially submitted
to the Senate. Exceptions are to be construed strictly."[336] So when
Citizen Genet, envoy to the United States from the first French
Republic, sought an exequatur for a consul whose commission was
addressed to the Congress of the United States, Jefferson informed him
that "as the President was the only channel of communication between the
United States and foreign nations, it was from him alone 'that foreign
nations or their agents are to learn what is or has been the will of the
nation;' that whatever he communicated as such, they had a right and
were bound to consider 'as the expression of the nation;' and that no
foreign agent could be 'allowed to question it,' or 'to interpose
between him and any other branch of government, under the pretext of
either's transgressing their functions.' Mr. Jefferson therefore