Chapter 6 Government

Implied Powers

-have allowed Congress to expand its role to meet the nation's needs

What powers does Congress have that aids in their investigations? What was the ruling in Watkins v US (1957)?

-Although congressional investigations are not trials, Congress has several powers that help committees collect evidence. -Like courts, congressional committees have the power to subpoena witnesses. A subpoena is a legal order that requires a person to appear or produce requested documents. Congress uses this power frequently. -Like courts, congressional committees can require witnesses to testify under oath. Witnesses who do not tell the truth can be criminally prosecuted for perjury, or lying under oath. -Committees may also punish those who refuse to testify or otherwise will not cooperate by holding them in contempt of Congress, meaning that they are willfully obstructing its work. Persons found in contempt of Congress can be arrested and jailed. The Constitution does not grant this power to Congress, but court decisions have generally upheld it. -The situation today is very different, and witnesses before congressional committees have important rights. In the case of Watkins v. United States (1957), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress must respect witnesses' constitutional rights just as a court does. In the Court's words: "Witnesses cannot be compelled to give evidence against themselves. They cannot be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure. Nor can the First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, religion, or political belief and association be abridged." -One way congressional committees have gotten around this requirement to observe Fifth Amendment rights is by giving witnesses immunity. Immunity is freedom from prosecution for people whose testimony ties them to criminal acts. Of course, the Fifth Amendment states that people cannot be forced to testify against themselves. If witnesses are granted immunity, however, they can be required to testify; those who refuse may be held in contempt and jailed.

Source of Tension Different Political Timetables

-Before any of these elected officials face voters again, they want to show they have accomplished what the voters asked them to do. -Presidents have a little more than three years to develop, present, and move their programs through Congress before they must busy themselves running for reelection; at best, they have only eight years to accomplish their agendas. -By contrast, senators and representatives are not limited to two terms in office. Most members can look forward to being reelected for several terms. Thus, they have a much longer political timetable than the president. Representatives, who serve only two-year terms, are always running for reelection.

Explain the power of oversight. How does Congress exercise this power? Give examples.

-Legislative oversight is the power to review executive branch activities on an ongoing basis. In modern American government, the executive carries out those laws through a huge bureaucracy of multiple agencies and hundreds of public officials. Thus, the oversight power of Congress can be focused on a wide array of programs and officials. -Legislative oversight is a good example of how checks and balances work. Congress makes the laws, and the executive branch carries them out. As it does so, the executive branch interprets what the laws mean in a practical sense. Later Congress can check how the executive branch has administered the law and decide whether it met the law's goals. -First, lawmakers do not have enough staff, time, or money to keep track of everything going on in the executive branch. Second, lawmakers know that oversight does not interest many voters, unless it uncovers a scandal or major problem. Third, some legislation and regulations are so vague that it is difficult to know exactly what they mean. Without clear objectives, lawmakers have little means of judging whether the executive branch is doing its job. -Finally, committees sometimes come to favor the federal agencies they are supposed to oversee. Lawmakers and the officials who work for a federal agency often become well-acquainted because they spend long hours working together. This creates the possibility that committee members will not be objective when assessing the performance of people who work at the agency How Congress Limits the Executive Congress exercises oversight in several ways. It requires executive agencies to report to it. The 1946 Employment Act, for example, requires the president to send Congress an annual report on the nation's economy. During a recent congressional term, federal agencies submitted more than 1,000 reports to Congress. Keeping up with the reports, especially those that relate to a member's committee assignment, is an important job. A second oversight technique is for Congress to ask one of its support agencies, such as the Government Accountability Office (GAO), to study an agency's work. The GAO typically examines the finances of federal agencies to see if public money is being spent appropriately and legally. Obviously, the power of the purse gives Congress another means of overseeing the executive branch. Each year Congress reviews the budgets of all agencies in the executive branch. Congress can then decide to expand, reduce, or eliminate certain programs in the budget. For years, Congress exercised oversight power by using the legislative veto. Congress put provisions into some laws that allowed it to review and cancel actions of the executive agencies carrying out those laws. In effect, Congress was claiming authority over officials who worked in the executive branch. In 1983 the Supreme Court ruled in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha that the legislative veto was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers.

Source of Tension Party Politics

-Most elected leaders are loyal to their political party and to their party's philosophies. -Partisan politics (politics driven mostly by party loyalty) can also affect relations between the president and Congress. -This is most obvious if one party controls the White House and the other controls the House and Senate, a situation known as divided government.

Expanding Power of Congress

-The Supreme Court has often needed to resolve conflicts over what is "necessary and proper" legislation. -The first major conflict was between supporters of "strict construction," or interpretation, of the Constitution and those who believed in a "loose construction."

Explain the power to investigate. How does Congress exercise this power? Give examples.

-The ability to investigate social and economic misconduct and to oversee the performance of government agencies is a critical power of Congress -Congressional investigations into government failures and scandals -The Founders neither granted nor denied Congress the power to conduct investigations -Standing or select committees may conduct investigations (last days or months) -Congress investigated allegations against its own members. While some of these complaints were politically motivated, several members were indicted and one senator resigned to avoid being expelled -Congressional investigations can lead to reforms in a government program, to officials being fired, or to new laws to deal with a problem. Sometimes, however, they damage the reputations of innocent people

How does taxation allow for more regulatory powers by Congress?

-The most important power of Congress is the power to levy taxes and control spending to provide for the general welfare found in Article 1, Section 8 -"The power of the purse" allows congress to influence policy because no government agency can spend money without its authorization -This broad authority to provide for the general welfare allows congress to impose many taxes

Source of Tension Organization

-The organization of Congress gives many tools to members who want to resist a proposal of the president. Rules of procedure, such as the Senate's unlimited debate rule, can be used to block legislation. Even when congressional leaders support the president, they may have to struggle to get presidential initiatives through Congress. Because the basic work of legislation is conducted in committees and subcommittees, the committee system also may be a weapon against the president. Committee chairpersons are powerful members of Congress, and they use their positions to influence bills. Conflicts in government occur when a president wants a major proposal approved and a committee tries to delay, revise, or defeat it.

Source of Tension Different Constituencies

-The president is expected to represent all the people of the United States. -Members of Congress represent only their constituents, people who live and vote in their state or local district. -Members of Congress will often have a more narrow view on a given issue than the president, who will take a national perspective. -Even when a lawmaker wants to agree with the president's ideas, he or she must think about what will please the voters back home

Source of Tension Checks and Balances

-The system of checks and balances that the Constitution created gives all three branches of government powers to counteract one another. -Presidents share their most important duties with Congress, including making treaties, appointing federal officials and judges, and paying the expenses of the government. -All the bills Congress passes require the executive's cooperation—the president must sign them before they become law. The president can veto a bill or threaten to veto it. -For Congress to override a presidential veto, it requires a two-thirds majority in each house of Congress, which is usually difficult to obtain. This gives the president a major role in legislation. When either side refuses to cooperate, the other may be frustrated. -The system of checks and balances gives Congress and the president several tools to counteract each other.

Necessary and Proper Clause

-last clause (18) of Section 8 gives Congress power to do whatever is "necessary and proper" to carry out its enumerated powers -implies that congress has powers beyond those in the first 17 clauses -also known as the elastic clause

Expressed Powers

-legislative powers of Congress in Article 1, Section 8, Clauses 1-18 -also known as the enumerated powers

Appropriations Bills (Taxing and Spending Power)

-meaning laws proposed to authorizing spending money The legislative process for appropriations bills is not spelled out in the Constitution. Instead, the process has developed through usage. Article I, Section 9, merely requires that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Congress uses a two-step process for approving expenditures. -First, it passes an authorization bill that establishes a program and says how much can be spent on the program. -Second, it passes an appropriations bill actually approving the funds for the program. Spending requests generally come from the executive branch. -Today, most are presented to Congress in the president's annual budget proposal. Often, however, Congress does not follow exactly the president's requests in deciding what funds to appropriate.

Revenue Bills (Taxing and Spending Power)

-proposed laws for raising money, -Article I, Section 7, says, "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." -Revenue bills start in the House and then go to the Senate.

What powers are expressly denied to Congress? These are expressed in Article 1, Section 9.

1) The Bill of Rights 2) A writ of habeas corpus Habeas Corpus- a court order to release a person accused of a crime to court to determine whether he or she has been legally detained 3) May not pass bills of attainder Attainder- laws that establish guilt and punishment without a trial 4) Prohibited from passing ex post facto laws; they cannot criminalize an act that was legal when it was committed

Identify how the balance of power between President and Congress has shifted.

The Senate's confirmation power is a check on presidential power. But some observers argue that it has gone too far. Members of the opposition party in the Senate, whether in the majority or the minority, can stall nominations. Democrats did this during the presidency of George W. Bush, Republicans during the Obama Administration. Holding up appointments of judges to the federal courts has created enough vacancies to affect the flow of work. The system of checks and balances makes it likely that the president and Congress will always compete for power. Which branch will dominate in a specific period of time depends on many factors, including the political issues of the day, the political savvy of congressional leaders, and the popularity of the president. The balance of power between the two branches has varied throughout our history. Prior to the Civil War, presidents looked to Congress to take the lead in proposing legislation, sometimes working behind the scenes with lawmakers to promote their ideas. During the Civil War, President Lincoln assumed vast executive powers to deal with the crisis and Congress went along. By contrast, the post-Civil War Congress nearly impeached Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson; over time, Congress again became the center of power in the federal government. Starting in the early 1900s, the balance of power began to shift again. Strong presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson assumed leadership roles in proposing legislation as they dealt with changing social, political, and economic conditions. During this period, public expectations of what the president should accomplish also grew enormously. After the Watergate crisis, many members of Congress concluded that President Nixon tried to create an "imperial presidency" and that the executive was too strong. Congress worked to regain power and influence related to war making and budget policy. Today, Congress grants the president a leadership role in proposing legislation. At the same time, members of Congress feel free to debate, modify, and pass or defeat anything a president proposes. Any president who proposes major new programs will almost surely come into conflict with the legislative branch