> I dream of an executive branch without a president. I don't see why we need one.
Maybe what the US really needs is a Prime Minister. Subordinate the executive branch to the legislative branch, as is the norm in the Commonwealth, the majority of Western European nations, Japan, among others
And a figurehead/symbolic/apolitical President with little real power – like the Presidents of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Malta, etc
Congress often falls into periods of internal leaderlessness or effective ruderlessness (there is supposed to be an internal hierarchy of leaders in both houses - if there was a prime minister tomorrow, their title today would be "speaker" or "majority leader.") Taking into account the role of the president to take up the reins in those instances, and the consequences of the times a president has remained deferential in attitude despite there being nobody to defer to, we probably need a separate election for president.
Congress only falls into "periods of internal leaderlessness" because (1) it doesn’t matter so much when it does because Congress is relatively powerless (compared to a Westminster system Parliament), and (2) there is no mechanism to trigger an early election (again unlike the Westminister system)
If the US adopted a parliamentary system, then Congress would have to nominate a Prime Minister – and if it failed to do so within a reasonable period, it would be dissolved and a new election would be held for it. Fear of having to face the voters again is a great motivator for legislators to get their act together – especially since voters rarely take kindly to being called upon to vote again so soon.
Maybe what the US really needs is a Prime Minister. Subordinate the executive branch to the legislative branch, as is the norm in the Commonwealth, the majority of Western European nations, Japan, among others
And a figurehead/symbolic/apolitical President with little real power – like the Presidents of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Malta, etc