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Limitations On Presidental Power
Limitations On Presidental Power
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Even with certain restrictions and checks of power the president still maintain some significant areas of power over congress such the ability to veto legislation passed by congress. This ability grants the president a significant amount of power over the legislative process in the U.S as ultimately he is able to set the agenda of the country’s political schedule, and determine the direction of the country’s political schedule. Along with the ability to enact vetoes without the interference of a hostile congress uncooperative congress. The president also posses the ability to set the agenda for what legislation to recommend to congress and to what priority level each recommendation should be given. This power does come with its limits though as most situations do not give the president the ultimate authority to force congress to address his proposal and he must instead convince congress to address his issue with priority.
The legislative branch consists of the two houses of Congress that have been decided upon by the Great Compromise (the House of Representatives and the Senate). Joint together as one system, Congress has the powers to create laws, declare war, override veto, and impeach the president. Secondly, the executive branch—consisting of the president, vice president, and the Cabinet—has the power to carry out laws (approve), negotiate foreign treaties—such as alliances—, and can grant pardons for federal offers. Finally, the judicial branch, or the Supreme Court Justices can interpret laws, declare laws unconstitutional, and declare the president unconstitutional. Having three branches of government helps keep the government in check, and it prevents one branch becoming more powerful than the other branches.
Each branch of government has different powers. The legislative branch consists of Congress, which is made of two houses. The House of Representatives and the Senate both must pass a law for it to be enforced. The executive branch consists of the president, the president must then sign the law into effect and enforce it. The last branch is the judicial branch; this consists of the United States Supreme Court.
Even though Congress and the president are pretty much evenly split (49% Congress & 51% the president) with their powers, the president holds powers that Congress does not. He is the Chief Diplomat and the Commander in Chief. The president also holds an inherent power with executive orders. Executive orders give the president the ability to make some policies without the approval of Congress. Executive orders can be used to force Congress into making foreign policy by the president, through treaties.
This method of separation is known as “checks and balances” referring to the three branches of government the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The legislative branch is supposed to be the stronger one. It consists of the Congress divided in two chambers: a House of Representatives and a Senate. The members of the House of Representatives are elected by the people and have the responsibility of encouraging popular consent and the Senate is elected by the state legislatures. The executive branch consists of the president, who has the power to receive international ambassadors, negotiate treaties with acceptance of the Senate, and appoint major personnel.
The Constitution clearly makes the Congress the most powerful of the three branches of government. Depending on the circumstances, however, the President might have more influence on Congress than one would think based on the separation of powers outlined in the
The Ballad of Orange Grape, written by Muriel Rukeyser, is a poem describing a street scene in East Harlem. Instantly she draws the reader into the scene using descriptive language and guides you through the decaying neighborhood to a Frankfurters stand where the man running the stand pours an orange drink into a bin labeled as purple and pours a purple drink into a bin labeled as orange. The narrator noticing that sparks a philosophical debate with the man running the stand so that she can understand the meaning of his actions. This street scene is the authors way of questioning are use of language in binary system and how different words and phrases can convey a different meaning.
According to the system of separation of powers, each branch of government has its own powers, but those powers are also checked because certain powers are shared with other branches of the government. For example, Congress, or the legislative branch has the power to make laws. When Congress passess a bill, a proposed law, the bill goes to the president, or the executive branch, for approval. Here, he must sign or approve the bill in order for it to become law. However, the president can refuse to sign the bill or veto the law and send it back to Congress.
The three branches of government—executive, legislature, and judicial—each keep the others from gaining too much power. The executive branch, consisting of the president, is under deeper scrutiny to make sure the branch does not gain too much power because it consists of one person, while the others consist of 9 to 535 people. Because of this, there are a few main components to keep the president in check. The constitution states that the president has the power to make treaties, however, the senate must approve of the treaty by two-thirds vote. In addition, the constitution also states, all appointments made by the president must be approved by the senate as well by a majority vote.
The President and Congress work with each other to pass laws. While Congress is in charge of drafting and voting on bills the President is the one who signs the bill making it a law. The Executive and Legislative branch both have checks and balances over each other. But three important tools that the President uses when dealing with the legislative branch are vetoes, executive orders, and the President’s ability to persuade not only legislatures but also citizens. Vetoes, a formal tool, are used by the President to stop any legislation they don’t want passed.
The vice president, appointed by the President, is the head of one part of Congress known as the Senate. The House of Representatives is run by the Speaker of the House who may serve as President if both the President and Vice President are unable. Congress creates and passes laws, and can overrule a President’s veto by a ⅔ vote. The Judicial Branch interprets the law. The head of the Judicial branch is the Supreme Court, which is also the head of the entire court system.
For example, Congress, the most powerful of the branches, was given the authority to collect and raise taxes, initiate war, regulate commerce and currency, maintain a military, and make changes via laws when deemed a necessity. Next, the Executive branch, consisting of the President and his cabinet, was given the power to establish treaties, supervise the nation’s military, execute laws, veto acts considered to be unconstitutional, and name potential candidates for diplomatic positions. Lastly, the Judicial branch of government, consisting of the Supreme court and regional courts, was given the power to interpret laws in regards to disputes between states or individuals versus the state, and once ruled upon to be deemed the supreme law of the
All legislative power in government is built around Congress. Congress is the only part of the government that can make new laws and change existing laws. Congress also has the power to establish the United States government’s budget. They bring taxes and tariffs to fund the governmental services, like welfare. If taxes and tariffs are not enough than Congress has the power to borrow and to make up for what they need to fund their job.
Powers of Congress Congress is our biggest part of the government, with two chambers and a total of 535 people. It is safe to say that because of the manpower, that they have more power than the rest of the government. Many powers of Congress include, taxing, making bills, and being able to impeach the President. While some may think that Congress is too powerful and needs to be brought down a few levels, I believe that Congress is for the most part perfect. There are some powers that Congress does possess that are ludicrous and should be taken out, but even without those powers Congress has plenty of powers that are beneficial to the government as a whole.
The executive branch can check the laws congress wants to pass and can veto them if he disagrees. The Legislative branch can check the executive by accepting the already vetoed law and can impeach or fire the president out of office. The Justice Branch can make sure peoples rights and liberties are being followed and check if the laws follow the constitution's rules. In the text, it says “To further limit government power the framers provided for separation of powers the constitution separates the government into three branches Congress of the legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch headed by the president carries out laws.