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The Cabinet

The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidencyitself. Established in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, the Cabinet's roleis to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the dutiesof each member's respective office.

The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executivedepartments the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education,Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and UrbanDevelopment, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and VeteransAffairs, as well as the Attorney General.

Executive Branch

When the delegates to the Constitutional Convention created the executivebranch of government, they gave the president a limited term of office to leadthe government. This was very different from any form of government inEurope and caused much debate. The delegates were afraid of what too muchpower in the hands of one person might lead to. In the end, with a system of

checks and balances included in the Constitution, a single president to managethe executive branch of government was adopted.

The executive branch of the Government is responsible for enforcing the lawsof the land. When George Washington was president, people recognized thatone person could not carry out the duties of the President without advice andassistance. The Vice President, department heads (Cabinet members), andheads of independent agencies assist in this capacity. Unlike the powers of thePresident, their responsibilities are not defined in the Constitution but each hasspecial powers and functions.

President: Leader of the country and Commander in Chief of the

military. Vice President: President of the Senate and becomes President if the

President is unable to serve. Departments: Department heads advise the President on policy issues

and help execute those policies. Independent Agencies: Help execute policy or provide special

services.

The President of the United States

The President is the Head of the Executive Branch and generally viewed as thehead of the U.S. Government. While he does have significant power, his poweris limited by the Constitution. Specifically, the Constitution assigns thefollowing powers to the President:

Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Make treaties, with two-thirds consent of the Senate Receive ambassadors and other public ministers from foreign countries Appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, and any

officials as provided for by the Congress, with the approval of the Senate Give an annual State of the Union Address to Congress Recommend legislation to Congress Convene Congress on extraordinary occasions

Adjourn Congress, in cases of a disagreement about adjournment "Take care that the laws be faithfully executed" Fill in administrative vacancies during Congressional recesses Grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the U.S.

For convenience, we have divided these main powers into three categories:Head of State, Administrative, and Legislative Powers.

As Head of State, the President meets with the leaders of other countries. Hehas the power to recognize those lands as official countries and to maketreaties with them. However, the Senate must approve any treaty before itbecomes official. The President also has the power to appoint ambassadors to

other countries, with the Senate's approval.

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The President is also the official head of the U.S. military. As Commander inChief, he can authorize the use of troops overseas without declaring war. Todeclare war officially, though, he must get the approval of the Congress.

The President's administrative duties include appointing the heads of eachExecutive Branch department. Of course, these appointments are subject tothe approval of the Senate. The President also has the power to request thewritten opinion of the head of each Executive Branch department, regardingany subject relating to their department.

The President of the United States:Legislative Powers

Most people view the President as the most powerful and influential person inthe United States government. While he does wield a great deal of politicalmight, his effect on the law-making process is limited. Only Congress can writelegislation; the President may only recommend it. If he does so, then a memberof Congress may introduce the bill for consideration.

Whereas only Congress may create legislation, it is difficult for them to pass a

bill without the Presidents approval. When Congress passes a bill, they send itto the White House. The President then has three options: sign the bill into law,veto the bill, or do nothing.

When the President signs a bill into law, it immediately goes into effect. At thispoint, only the Supreme Court can remove the law from the books by declaringit unconstitutional.

When the President vetoes a bill, it does not go into effect. The Presidentvetoes a bill by returning it to Congress unsigned. In most cases, he will alsosend them an explanation of why he rejected the legislation. Congress canoverride a presidential veto, but to do so, two-thirds of each chamber must

vote in favor of the bill. However, an override does not occur very often.

If the President chooses the third option, doing nothing with the bill, one of twothings will occur. If Congress is in session ten business days after the Presidentreceives the bill, the legislation will become a law without the Presidentssignature. However, if Congress adjourns within ten business days of giving thebill to the President, the bill dies. When the President kills a bill in this fashion,it is known as a pocket veto. In this case, Congress can do nothing to overridehis decision.

The Presidential veto is an extremely powerful tool. Often, to get Congress toreconsider legislation, the President need only threaten to veto a bill if it

passes.

However, this power has its limitations. The President may only veto a bill in itsentirety; he does not have the power of a line-item veto, which would allow himto strike individual sections of a bill while still passing it. Because of thislimitation, the President must often compromise if Congress passes a bill thathe agrees with, but attaches a rider that goes against his policy.

Compromise, in general, is a crucial aspect to a Presidents success in workingwith Congress. The Presidents political party very rarely also controlsCongress. Therefore, the President must work with Senators andRepresentatives who disagree with his agenda. However, if the Presidentrefused to pass any legislation that he disagreed with and Congress behavedsimilarly, the government would come to a halt. Thus, they must work togetherto keep the government moving.

In addition, the President relies on the support of the American people toaccomplish his goals. The public elects the President and the members ofCongress. When the public disapproves of the President, Senators andRepresentatives will distance themselves with the President and his agenda. Ifthey side with an unpopular President, their constituents might not re-electthem. Thus, if the President loses popular support, he will lose support inCongress and will be unable to get any of his suggested legislation enacted.

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Legislative Branch

Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative or law makingbranch of government with the formation of a bicameral Congress.

This system provides checks and balances within the legislativebranch.

Only after much debate did the Founding Fathers agree on thecreation of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A majorissue was how representation in the legislative body would bedetermined. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention from largerand more populated states argued for the Virginia Plan that called forcongressional representation should be based on a state'spopulation. Fearing domination, delegates from smaller states were

just as adamant for equal representation and supported the NewJersey Plan. Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, proposedthe bicameral legislature. The Great Compromise, among otherprovisions, resulted in the creation of two houses, with

representation based on population in one and with equal representation in theother.

Members of Congress are now elected by a direct vote of the people of thestate they represent. It has not always been this way for the Senate. Prior to1913 and the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, Senators were chosen bytheir state legislatures because the Senate was viewed as representative ofstate governments, not of the people. It was the responsibility of Senators toensure that their state was treated equally in legislation.

Agencies that provide support services for the Congress are also part of thelegislative branch. These include the Government Printing Office (GPO), theLibrary of Congress (LC), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), theGovernment Accountability Office (GAO), and the Architect of the Capitol

The U.S. Congress

The United States Congress is part of the legislative branch and is made up oftwo houses -- the House of Representatives and the Senate. This two housesystem is known as a bicameral legislature. The primary duty of Congress is towrite, debate, and pass bills, which are then passed on to the president forapproval. Other congressional duties include investigating pressing nationalissues and supervising the executive and judicial branches.

Every two years, voters get to choose all 435 representatives and a third of thesenators. The entire House membership faces re-election every two years, butthe Senate is a continuing body because there is never an entirely new Senate.A new Congress begins in January following Congressional elections. Since theFirst Congress, which met from 1789 to 1791, all Congresses have beennumbered in order. We are currently in the 110th Congress. Congress meetsonce every year and usually lasts from January 3rd to July 31st, but in specialcases, a session can last longer.

For the most part, the House and Senate each meet in their respectivechamber in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.; however, on rare occasions,they will convene for a joint session of Congress in the House chamber. Forexample, a joint session will be called to count electoral votes for presidentialelections

The U.S. Congress:The Powers of Congress

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The Constitution grants Congress "all legislative powers" in the nationalgovernment. Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution lists a wide range ofcongressional powers, including:

Coining money. Maintaining a military. Declaring war on other countries. Regulating interstate and foreign commerce

Congress also controls federal taxing and spending policiesone of the mostimportant sources of power in the government. The Constitution also givesCongress the authority to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper,"an implied source of power sometimes called the Elastic Clause.

One of the most important implied powers is Congresss authority toinvestigate and oversee the executive branch and its agencies, such as theDepartment of Defense and the Department of Justice. As part of thisresponsibility, which is known as oversight, Congress summons senior officialsto answer questions from members, orders audits of agencies, and holdshearings to air grievances of citizens.

Congress also holds hearings on matters of general public concern. Sometimesmembers of Congress conduct these hearings to identify problems that createa need for new laws. In other cases Congress holds hearings to raise publicawareness about an issue.

There are, however, some congressional powers that are rarely used such asthe ability to impeach an official and the ability to amend the Constitution.

In addition to the power described above, Congress shares powerswith the president in matters such as, framing U.S. foreign policy andcontrol over the military. For example, while the president negotiates

treaties, they are only put into effect once the Senate approves them.Also, while Congress can declare war and approve fund

The U.S. Congress:The House of Representatives

When the Constitution was being drafted, a debate broke out between stateswith large populations and those with smaller populations. Each had a differentopinion about how the states should be represented in the new government. Tobe fair to each group, a compromise was reached. By dividing Congress intotwo houses, the House of Representatives would favor states with largerpopulations, while the Senate would favor those states with smallerpopulations.

There are a total of 435 members inthe House of Representatives. Eachmember represents an area of a state,known as a congressional district. Thenumber of representatives is based onthe number of districts in a state. Eachstate is guaranteed one seat. Everyten years, the U.S. Census Bureaucounts the population of the states to

determine the number of districts ineach state.

Representatives, elected for two-yearterms, must be 25 years old, a citizen for at least seven years, and a residentof the state from which they are elected. Five additional membersfromPuerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the District ofColumbiarepresent their constituencies in the House. While they mayparticipate in the debates, they cannot vote.

The House has special jobs that only it can perform. It can:

Start laws that make people pay taxes. Decide if a government official should be put on trial before the Senate if

s/he commits a crime against the country.

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The U.S. Congress: The Senate

There are a total of 100 members inthe Senate. The Constitution statesthat the vice president has formalcontrol over the Senate and is knownas the president of the Senate. Inactuality, the vice president is onlypresent for important ceremonies andto cast a tie-breaking vote.

Senators, elected for six-year terms,must be 30 years old, a citizen for atleast nine years, and a resident of thestate from which they are elected.

As in the House, the Senate also has special jobs that only it can perform. Itcan:

Confirm or disapprove any treaties the President drafts.

Confirm or disapprove the Presidential appointments, such as theCabinet, officers, Supreme Court justices, and ambassadors.

Holds a trial for a Government official who commits a crime against thecountry.

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