Checks And Balances Government Power

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Could you imagine America’s government being run by different people than it is today? Checks and Balances are critical and without it, one branch could gain more power than the other two. Checks and Balances keep one branch of the government from getting too much power. Each branch can check the other branch if they feel something they did isn’t right. These are vital in the government we are living under today.

The executive branch enforces laws. It includes the President, Vice President, and Cabinet, among others. The President can serve a maximum of 2 terms of 4 years each. For the Vice President however, he can serve indefinitely, but usually only serves as much as the President. The Cabinet can serve “as long as the President …show more content…

It includes congress and its two houses, the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate’s job is to represent the citizens in their state. They vote on new laws that they think will be beneficial to the people. In each state there is 2 senators and a total of 100 in the U.S. Each senator serves a term of 6 years each. The House of Representatives however, is much larger with a total of 435 members. They serve a term of 2 years. Each state’s number of members is regarding to its size. For example, Texas will have a lot more members than Wyoming. The job of the members of The House of Representatives is to offer amendments, serve on committees, and introduce bills and resolutions. The legislative branch can override a president with a ⅔ vote. One example of this is when President John Tyler made a veto, ⅔ of the congress didn’t agree and it got overturned. This occurred on March 3, 1845, the first time it had ever happened. Another thing this branch can do is create lower courts. They can also impeach judges from these courts. Examples are the U.S. District Courts because congress created them and they can impeach judges from them. The first U.S. District Court was made in 1891. The legislative branch is a very important branch in our …show more content…

It includes the Supreme Court. All the people in the Supreme Court are elected by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The justices in the court can only take cases that are constitutional. If a case is not constitutional, they may not bring it upon the Supreme Court. The justices serve life terms in the court, unlike the executive and legislative branches who only serve for terms. The judicial branch can declare executive acts unconstitutional. One example is when the court declared one of Barack Obama’s actions unconstitutional on December, 16th of this past year. They did this when a case was submitted about an individual who was deported and then re-entered the country “unlawfully.” This branch can also declare laws made in congress unconstitutional. An example of this is when a judge ruled Florida’s workers’ compensation laws unconstitutional on September 28, 2014. They did this because it is in violation of the due process law in the Constitution. The judicial branch is very important and without it we could be in