Major Controversies Regarding The Powers Of The American Congress

Oliver Ellsworth, an important American lawyer and politician that lived during the first American Independence day, states his opinion on a new American Congress, “The powers of congress must be defined, but their means must be adequate to the purposes of their constitution. It is possible there may be abuses and misapplications; still, it is better to hazard something than to hazard at all”. In the original United States Constitution, the Framers wanted to make three different and equal branches of government, but today that is not the case. In present day government, Congress is more powerful than the President. The Legislative Branch, or Congress, is the second branch of the United States Federal Government. Congress is made up of two houses called the Senate and the House of Representatives. The main purpose of

The relationship between the president and Congress has changed drastically in the past two hundred years. The framers of the constitution did not want an executive power in charge of the whole country in fear of it turning into a monarchy. They knew they needed a leader for America though. The framers did not want political parties. “Political parties established after Washington left the presidency” (Mandate). The relationship between Congress and the president changed in a very visible way. In the past, the president would meet to discuss issues with Congress, but that is not how it is today. Also the president would have to go through congress to pass a bill or an amendment, but presidents found a way around going through congress. The president can sign a bill without congress’s approval. For example, president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln wanted to pass an amendment that would end slavery but Congress said no. Lincoln then did what the people wanted and signed the emancipation proclamation anyways to end slavery. Also known as the thirteenth amendment. Some presidents even put the people in power.

Another example of congressional gridlock preventing a bill becoming law is when President Obama was still in the Oval Office. In 2014, Congress was gridlocked over Immigration Reform. Republicans in the Senate were indecisive on a $2.7 billion dollar bill to help with Central Americans crossing the border illegally. While it may not seem as serious, many politicians deemed this as a “national crisis”. President Obama also fought for it to be passed in Congress but it ended up making Congress delay for another day. The House also got a bill suspended that would make the deportation process much more efficient.

Congressional authorization is the ability to empower and allocate funds, which supports Congress with an effective tool for omission and authority of intelligence activities. Congress is expected to have more power than the President and the Supreme Court. Its powers are also known to be Constitutional as well as evolutionary (ushistory). After the Senate as well as the House of Representatives approves a bill or proposed law, it then becomes an actual law. These two houses also share other powers, that involve coin money, the power to declare war, establishing rules of naturalization as well as immigration, raise an army and a navy, regulate commerce, and set up the federal courts along with their jurisdictions (ushistory). Although Presidents can have authority to act without Congressional authorization when necessary for the nations security, it would be better if they did seek Congressional authorization before acting or making any important decision regarding the nations security, in order to preserve Constitutional checks and balances, as well as make the right decisions and protect the President politically.

the US to sign a new treaty, the senate would have to ratify it with a

The legislature's set up allows for corruption to exist in the government. The government shutdown of 2013 ended after a "deal was reached in the U.S. Senate that included a provision that raised the spending cap on a dam construction project in Kentucky" (Hudak). In this case, "2.2 billion" dollars were set aside for this project (Almasy). CNN's article stated: "So much for a "clean" bill" (Almasy). Despite the fact that the major issue occurring was the government shutdown, Senator Mitch McConnell still pushed for his rider to be added to the bill. Salient issues are not being addressed

Governor LePage’s administration and the Maine State Legislature have been in gridlock for many months over the proposed two-year state budget beginning July 1. Maine faces the real possibility of a state government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year if that a budget agreement is not reached June 30th. The most recent state government shutdown lasting 16 days occurred in 1991 when then Gov. John McKernan failed to reach an agreement with the state legislature about workers compensation reform.

According to NBC News’ article, “Sorry, we’re closed: Government shutdown ripples across the country,” published on October 1, 2013, written by Matthew DeLuca, it describes how many of the general population were affected when Congress members failed to reach a consensus regarding the government’s finances and budgets. The Senate rejected laws proposed by the Republican portion of the House, which led to delays in the cancellation of the Affordable Care Act. This shutdown lasted sixteen days, which angered many people. People were upset over the fact while they were going to work, the government workers were not showing up for work. During the shutdown, many Senators’ offices were closed, meaning they weren’t able to respond to requests from

The president is the foreign policy leader for the United States with an important political, military and economic role in the international arena. If there is collision between the president and congress, can congress restrain the president in foreign policy making?

The definition of congressional gridlock is the inability of the government to act because different parties (usually rivals) control different parts of the government. When two major partisan parties have a differentiating stands when it comes to ideology that’s when gridlock occurs. The House of Representatives and the senate are controlled by different parties, and this is when congressional gridlock can occur. This situation is very common and is a bit complex because in order for bills to be presented, the house has to be in agreeance with it first. Many members fear losing control with the decisions they make, without Congress all being controlled by the same party. If congress were to side with the opposing party on an issue that could benefit many lives, they won’t because they feel that they will not be loyal to their colleagues’ beliefs and stand on that

In recent years, congress has been incredibly adversarial to the president, providing that it is not controlled by members of his (the president) political party affiliation. The main source of this weakness is that congress and its members are defined by partisanship, they value tribalism, and are rewarded based on their loyalty to their party and antagonism to their opposition. This makes congress a breeding ground for viscous opposition where any room for compromise between parties is villainized, because of this the president can only govern efficiently when his party controls a significant percentage of both or either house. The major cause of this new political culture is highly contested, some say it is because political parties have come to gain too much power by way of their influence and ability to build campaign war chests. Others believe that political parties are too weak, citing that special interests and third party intervention has made members of either party less responsive to their leaders causing them to govern based on their fiscal supporters, which, would not allow compromise between two single groups. Regardless, it is very appropriate to cast the blame of a dysfunctional congress upon party politics. To illustrate this relationship between the executive and partisan congress we will look at the presidency of Barack Obama,

Congress has many functions to keep it working and functioning. They do many things to make laws, make sure they’re fair, and much more. There are also many committees with important jobs. There are many things that influence congressional elections such as reapportionment, redistricting, much more. There are many people who make up the House and Senate and they have many important jobs to keep things running smoothly.

The concept of the separation of powers introduced in the American Constitution has been consistently praised throughout early academia as a check on the corruption and tyranny of the federal government. By distinguishing between state and national powers, policies are tailored to fit individual needs, and the personaliz+ed laws of each district collectively appeal to public interests. This statement, however, ignores the historical motives behind the separation of powers. In Slavery in the Structure of American Politics, Donald Robinson unveils the hidden background of American government that lies behind the nationalistic facade cultivated through education at the primary and secondary level. Compared to Hannah Arendt’s positive stance on the separation of powers in On Revolution, Robinson presents a more realistic analysis of the issue through the lenses of slavery and private interest.

A government shutdown can be a scary and traumatic event, but how worried should America really be? What causes a shutdown to happen? Under the Constitution, Congress must pass laws to spend money. If Congress cannot agree on a spending bill –or the president vetoes it- the government does not have the legal authority to spend money. Therefore, the House and Senate must agree on a law to pass one. If they cannot agree, they will briefly shutdown the government until they come to resolution.

Government shutdowns are complicated, but with the increase of Government shutdowns per decade, Americans are frequently asking questions such as ‘What problems can be caused due to increased Government Shutdowns and why do they happen so often?’, or ‘What might we face in our future and how will this effect possibly all aspects of the American life we know today.’, more often than not, leaving most Americans clueless as to what all this means and why it keeps happening. To truly understand what government shutdowns are and why they happen, we must first reflect on the history of government shutdowns and what led to the frequency at which they occur today.