Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority passes the bill. A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills have the exact same wording, this rarely happens in practice. To bring the bills into alignment, a Conference Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers.
The members of the committee produce a conference report, intended as the final version of the bill. Each chamber then votes again to approve the conference report.
Depending on where the bill originated, the final text is then enrolled by either the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures. The bill is then sent to the President.
When receiving a bill from Congress, the President has several options. If the President agrees substantially with the bill, he or she may sign it into law, and the bill is then printed in the Statutes at Large. If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he may veto it and send it back to Congress. Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each chamber, at which point the bill becomes law and is printed.
There are two other options that the President may exercise. If Congress is in session and the President takes no action within 10 days, the bill becomes law. If Congress adjourns before 10 days are up and the President takes no action, then the bill dies and Congress may not vote to override. This is called a pocket veto, and if Congress still wants to pass the legislation, they must begin the entire process anew.
Congress, as one of the three coequal branches of government, is ascribed significant powers by the Constitution. All legislative power in the government is vested in Congress, meaning that it is the only part of the government that can make new laws or change existing laws.
Executive Branch agencies issue regulations with the full force of law, but these are only under the authority of laws enacted by Congress. The President may veto bills Congress passes, but Congress may also override a veto by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Article I of the Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and the specific areas in which it may legislate. Congress is also empowered to enact laws deemed "necessary and proper" for the execution of the powers given to any part of the government under the Constitution. Part of Congress's exercise of legislative authority is the establishment of an annual budget for the government. To this end, Congress levies taxes and tariffs to provide funding for essential government services.
If enough money cannot be raised to fund the government, then Congress may also authorize borrowing to make up the difference. Congress can also mandate spending on specific items: legislatively directed spending, commonly known as "earmarks," specifies funds for a particular project, rather than for a government agency. Both chambers of Congress have extensive investigative powers, and may compel the production of evidence or testimony toward whatever end they deem necessary. The removal of impeached officials is automatic upon conviction in the Senate.
Impeachment proceedings may be commenced by a member of the House of Representatives on their own initiative, either by presenting a listing of the charges under oath or by asking for referral to the appropriate committee. Non-members may trigger the impeachment process. For example, when the Judicial Conference of the United States suggests a federal judge be impeached, a charge of what actions constitute grounds for impeachment may come from a special prosecutor, the President, a state or territorial legislature, grand jury, or by petition.
The House debates the resolution and at the conclusion may consider the resolution as a whole or vote on each article of impeachment individually.
A simple majority of those present and voting is required for each article or the resolution as a whole to pass. If the House votes to impeach, managers typically referred to as House managers, with a lead House manager are selected to present the case to the Senate.
Recently, managers have been selected by resolution, while historically the House would occasionally elect the managers or pass a resolution allowing the appointment of managers at the discretion of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Also, the House will adopt a resolution in order to notify the Senate of its action. After receiving the notice, the Senate will adopt an order notifying the House that it is ready to receive the managers.
Then the House managers appear before the bar of the Senate and exhibit the articles of impeachment.
After the reading of the charges, the managers return and make a verbal report to the House. The proceedings unfold in the form of a trial, with each side having the right to call witnesses and perform cross-examinations. The House members, who are given the collective title of managers during the course of the trial, present the prosecution case. The impeached official has the right to mount a defense with his own attorneys as well.
Senators must also take an oath or affirmation that they will perform their duties honestly and with due diligence as opposed to the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, who vote upon their honor.
After hearing the charges, the Senate usually deliberates in private. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority. The Senate enters judgment on its decision, whether that is to convict or acquit. A copy of the judgment is filed with the Secretary of State. Upon conviction, the official is automatically removed from office and may also be barred from holding future office. The removed official is also liable to criminal prosecution.
The President may not grant a pardon in the impeachment case, but may in any resulting criminal case. Senate confirmation is required for certain presidential appointments stated under the Constitution. Under the United States Constitution and law of the United States, certain federal positions appointed by the president of the United States require confirmation advice and consent of the United States Senate.
PAS positions, as well as other types of federal government positions, are published in the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions Plum Book , which are released after each United States presidential election. However, following confirmation by the Senate, all Supreme Court justices hold office for life unless they are impeached or they voluntarily retire. Because justices serve for life, their appointments can be politically controversial if they are perceived to have been appointed to implement or serve a more partisan agenda.
The principle of checks and balances allows branches of government to be isolated from each other so that no branch has total power over all functions of government. As such, an attack on or abuse of power by individuals of a single branch will not lead to tyranny or the fall of the entire government. The judicial branch, however, holds the potential to nullify laws approved by the legislative branch, disregard the executive branch, and, in essence control the rule of law in the United States in accordance to the opinions of its sitting justices.
Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Search for:. The Oversight Function of Congress. Investigation Congressional oversight is the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. In principle, then, these procedures should make it easier for Congress to push back against the executive branch than using the regular legislative process.
Chadha, these measures overturning actions by the president must go to his desk for a signature or veto; Congress cannot reverse them simply by adopting an internal resolution. Unsurprisingly, the president is often unwilling to sign measures that explicitly reject an action he has just taken. Indeed, all six vetoes issued by President Trump as of this writing have been on resolutions that would have overturned decisions he made or otherwise limit his power.
Indeed, the decline of congressional capacity, the weakening of oversight powers, the decreased utility of the power of the purse, and the difficulty in adopting legislation to overturn executive branch actions are all symptoms of broader changes, both in Congress and in the political system at large. Since the early s, polarization in Congress has increased, largely due to the movement of Republican members to the right over time. Increasing partisanship has also made it more difficult for members of Congress to assert its authority as the first branch.
The electoral fate of individual legislators is now more closely tied to national political forces than in previous eras. Voters split their tickets at much lower rates; in , for example, no state elected a senator from one party while awarding its Electoral College votes to a presidential candidate of a different party for the first time since the advent of popular election of senators in the early 20th century.
The increased competition for partisan control of the House and Senate has also made working with members from the opposite party less attractive.
Between the early s and the early s, Democrats held a virtual lock on the congressional majority, and Republicans did not reasonably expect to regain the majority after each successive election.
Since roughly , however, both parties have seen achieving a majority in the next cycle as an at least somewhat achievable goal. Because of this heightened competition, members of the minority party have fewer reasons to work with their majority party counterparts to make them seem like capable legislators.
Instead, they have a greater incentive to draw clear distinctions between their own party and their majority party colleagues. This reluctance to be seen as granting power to an opposite party president co-exists with several decades of increasing presidential power. Once Congress has delegated this authority to the executive branch, however, the president has used various tools to expand his power further.
Polarization and partisanship in Congress, in turn, have made it difficult for Congress to wrest much of this authority back. While the legislative branch is limited in what it can do, for example, to reduce the level of polarization between the parties, that does not mean that congressional reform is a futile exercise.
Here, I offer two general areas in which members of Congress might act on a bipartisan basis to increase its ability to check the power of the executive branch. As discussed above, the increasing reliance by Congress on short-term continuing resolutions and omnibus appropriations bills makes it more difficult for the House and Senate to use the power of the purse as a meaningful threat against the executive branch. In , the House and Senate were able to complete work on five appropriations bills before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, making it the most productive appropriations year in over two decades.
Enhancing congressional staff capacity—especially at the committee level—also has the potential to bolster congressional power. Providing committees with additional resources to hire more staff, raising the cap on what committee staff can be paid, and providing staff with training and resources necessary to be effective overseers of the executive branch would all help address the challenges Congress faces.
In attempting to re build its capacity as an effective counterweight to the president, the first branch would be well-served to focus on broader legislative reforms. Voter Vitals Non-partisan, fact-based explainers on important issues for American voters.
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