MBE Rules · Constitutional Law
Treaty Power
Art. II §2 cl. 2
The rule
The President makes treaties with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. Ratified treaties are the supreme law of the land and preempt conflicting state law. Executive agreements (President-alone or congressional-executive) do not require two-thirds Senate approval but similarly preempt state law.
In plain English
Treaty = President + 2/3 Senate. Executive agreement = President alone (or with simple-majority congressional support). Both bind the states. Later-in-time federal statute can override an earlier treaty domestically (though not internationally).
The trap
Forgetting the executive-agreement alternative, or thinking treaties override the Constitution — they do not (Reid v. Covert).
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