Final answer:
The correct answer is: 1) Senate, executive agreement. Executive agreements are an alternative to treaties that do not require Senate ratification, facilitating the president in foreign affairs.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the president of the United States wishes to avoid the more formal and challenging treaty ratification process that requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate, he can choose to enter into an executive agreement with a foreign nation instead. The correct answer to the question is: 1) Senate, executive agreement.
Executive agreements are formal agreements between two countries that do not require Senate ratification like treaties do, though they are still legally binding. Most of these do not require any congressional action unless they involve commitments, such as financial obligations, that fall under the powers granted to Congress.
Treaties, according to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, necessitate negotiation by the president, consent by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, and final ratification by the president.
However, executive agreements, which have proliferated in modern foreign policy, often circumvent this process and can be entered into solely by the president or by the president with a simple majority approval from both the House and Senate in the case of congressional-executive agreements.
This flexibility has enabled presidents to enact agreements swiftly, but these can also be easily reversed by succeeding administrations.
So Option 1 is correct.