He also began to impound funds by refusing to spend money Congress had appropriated. Nixon also sought to broaden the concept of executive privilege, the unwritten right of every president to assure the confidentiality of private presidential communications. For a time Nixon sought to extend this privilege to his White House and Cabinet aides called to testify before Congressional committees. He ultimately relented in practice, if not in principle, as scandal lessened his muscle over Congress in 1973. He virtually ignored Congress in his execution of foreign policy, rarely extending the courtesy of presidential briefings until policy was cemented.
Nixon’s bent toward sidestepping traditional channels of accountability was seen in his attempts to reorganize the executive branch. In 1972 Nixon proposed replacing seven existing departments with four new ones, But Congress did not act. Immediately after his landslide reelection over Democrat George S. McGovern in 1972 Nixon announced plans to channel department policy through a super-cabinet of several White House counselors. He had already created a new Office of Management and Budget, with greater powers than the old Bureau of the Budget and a Domestic White House Council, which many critics felt was usurping Cabinet power. New howls of outrage resounded in Congress. Nixon’s choice of new Cabinet secretaries at the start of his second tern added to discontent. During his first term his selections had reflected the traditional assortment of politicians and scholars who evinced independence of the administration. His new appointments, on the other hand, reflected only loyalty to Nixon. With the outbreak of scandal, Congress reluctance to challenge the president quickly waned and in November 1973 Congress voted to override Nixon’s veto of a war power bill requiring congressional approval of presidential commitment of U.S. combat troops abroad. The November action was the first symbolic show of the failing confidence of Congress in a president who, it felt, had dealt with it too lightly. Nixon could no longer expect unqualified support as he sought to undo the irreparable damage of what became known as the Watergate scandal.

The Watergate Scandal and Resignation
In January 1973 seven men pleaded guilty or were convicted for their roles in two illegal entries in the spring of 1972 into Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate office building in Washington D.C.; they had tried to place taps on two telephones and photograph documents. The men who directed the burglaries, G.