How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

-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.

Recommended textbook solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

Magruder's American Government

1st EditionSavvas Learning Co

555 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

United States Government: Our Democracy

1st EditionDonald A. Ritchie, Richard C. Remy

1,148 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

American Government

1st EditionGlen Krutz

412 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

TEKS United States Government

1st EditionDonald A. Ritchie, Richard C. Remy

1,148 solutions

Upgrade to remove ads

Only SGD 41.99/year

  1. Social Science
  2. Political Science
  3. Politics of the United States

  • Flashcards

  • Learn

  • Test

  • Match

  • Flashcards

  • Learn

  • Test

  • Match

Terms in this set (62)

expressed powers

powers directly stated in the constitution

enumerated powers

another name for expressed powers

necessary and proper clause

article 1, section 8-gives congress the power to make all laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out its duties

what is another name for the necessary and proper clause?

elastic clause

implied powers

powers the government requires to carry out its expressed constitutional powers

elastic clause

aka the necessary and proper clause

impeachment

the formal accusation of misconduct in office

revenue bill

a law for raising money (bill that is taxed--taxed bill)

appropriation bill

a proposed law to authorize spending money

authorization bill

a bill that established a program and says how much can be spent on the program

securities

bonds or notes

national debt

the total amount the government owes at any given time

what is the US national debt today?

19,800,000,000,000-- 19.8 trillion

bankruptcy

if someone owes more money than they own, then they are bankrupt

interstate commerce

trade among the states

naturalization

the process by which immigrants becomes citizens

copyright

the exclusive right to publish and sell a literary, musical, or artistic work for a specified period of time

patent

the exclusive right of an inventor to manufacture, use, and sell his or her invention for a specific period, currently 20 years

20th amendment

VP-elect becomes President if President dies before taking office

25 amendment

congress confirms VP if president or VP dies in office

confirmation

the action of confirming something or the state of being confirmed

ratification

the process of approving something

writ of habeus corpus

to bring the body to court- a court order to release a person accused of a crime to court to determine whether he or she has been legally detained

bill of attainder

convictions w/o trial (congress used to be able to do this, but they now cannot)

ex post facto law

after the fact (congress cannot pass these laws) (can't be charged with a crime if it wasn't a crime when you did it)

subpoena

a legal order that a person appear or produce requested documents

perjury

lying under oath

contempt

willful obstruction of justice

immunity

freedom from prosecution for witnesses whose testimony ties them to illegal acts

legislative oversight

power of the legislative branch to review the policies, programs, and activities of the executive branch on an ongoing basis

legislative veto

a provision that congress wrote into some laws that allowed it to review and cancel actions of executive agencies

line-item veto

the power of an executive to reject one or more items in a bill without vetoing the entire bill

divided government

when one party controls the white house and the other controls the house and senate

national budget

the yearly financial plan for the federal government

impoundment

the president's refusal to spend money congress has voted to fund a program

what was the most important civil rights supreme court case besides brown v. the board of education?

heart of atlanta model v. united states

heart of atlanta model v. united states

ruled that congress has the expressed right to make laws with interstate commerce powers and that this law applies to ALL hotels and motels

war powers act

states that the president must notify congress within 48 hours of any commitment of troops abroad and must withdraw them in 60 to 90 days unless congress explicitly approves the action (allows congress to limit the president's use of military forces)

congress' taxing and spending powers

"to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general Welfare of the United States"

congress' foreign policy powers

-declare war- congress ONLY
-maintain army and navy- congress shares w/ president
-regulate foreign trade- congress ONLY
-confirm diplomatic appointment- senate and president share
-ratify treaties- senate and president share

how has the congress' spending power and the commerce clause helped african americans and other minorities obtain equal rights to white males?

heart of atlanta model v. united states-- commerce clause authorizes congress to regulate foreign and interstate commerce

powers denied to congress

-habeas corpus
-ex post facto laws
-bills of attainder

congress' investigative powers

congress can investigate a president at any time they want/need

congress' oversight powers

...

president nixon and watergate

democrats were having a convention at the watergate hotel and there rooms were broken into, entered, and listening devices were placed (3 felonies); president nixon was republican president at the time and lied when asked if he was involved with this; when congress asked nixon for the tapes he said no; finally nixon gave them the tapes but he deleted parts of them

president clinton and monica lewinsky

bill clinton had an affair with monica lewinsy with he was president; monica was was hired by clinton to work for him

president bush and the war in iraq (WMDs)

twin towers got brought down on 9-11; congress accused bush for being responsible for this happening b/c they beleived he wanted a reason to go into the middle east militarily, but there was no evidence

president reagan and the iran-contra affair

congress passed law saying US can't sell weapons to Iran; reagan sold weapons to iran and lied about doing so

senator mccartney and the committee on un-american activities

"red scare" during his time everyone was turning communist; congress investigated a congress committe which mccarthy was the head of? because they thought they were communist

senator kennedy and the connection between the labor unions and organize crime

same thing happened with the italins living in NY and NJ as communisms (they believed the italians had ties that they were involved with the mafia)

tali-hook scandal

this is a convention of US naval offices; happened in Las Vegas; the junior female naval officers accused the higher ranking male officers of putting drugs in their drugs and raping them; women were apparently smoking and drinking

how the system of checks and balances leades to conflicts between the president (executive branch) and congress (legislative branch)

legislative oversight?

what is the difference between and authorization bill and an appropiatons bill?

authorization bill- bill that establishes a program and says how much can spent on the program
appropiations bill- a proposed law to authorize spending money

what powers of congress are listed in the constitution?

the expressed powers

what are the legislative powers of congress?

the taxing and spending power, the commerce power, foreign policy powers, and other legislative and money powers

what are the nonlegislative powers of congress?

the removal power, the confirmation power, the ratification power, and the amendment power

what is the legislative veto and why was it declared unconstitutional?

a provision that congress wrote into some laws that allowed it to review and cancel actions of executive agencies; it violate the separation of powers and was declared unconstitutional

how does congress exercise its power to investigate government agencies?

...

how does congress oversee the executive branch?

...

what is divided government and how might it create partisan gridlock?

divided gov is when 1 party controls the white house and the other party control the house and senate. it might create a partisan gridlock b/c divided gov can lead to politics driven mainly by party loyalty.

what factors cause conflict between congress and the president?

checks and balances built into our system of seperation of powers and if the president and congress have different political timetables, conflicts may occur.

what events and legislation have shifted the balance of power between congress and the president?

emergency and balancing budget powers and legislative and line-item vetoes.

Recommended textbook solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

Magruder's American Government

1st EditionSavvas Learning Co

555 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

Magruder's American Government

1st EditionDaniel M. Shea

602 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

United States Government: Principles in Practice, Florida

1st EditionLuis Ricardo Fraga

825 solutions

How does the system of checks and balances lead to conflict between the president and Congress quizlet?

United States Government: Our Democracy

1st EditionDonald A. Ritchie, Richard C. Remy

1,148 solutions

Sets with similar terms

civics ch6 EXAM2

54 terms

DevinReinoso

presidents gov test

47 terms

Sara_Hopper5

AP Gov Presidency Vocab (ch 12)

58 terms

sukanya_maulik

Chapter 14 - AP Government

53 terms

Ravin_Davis1

Sets found in the same folder

Seigler Vietnam War Test Review

22 terms

Rohan_Jhanjee

Vietnam War Notes

24 terms

Jacinda_Eisenhauer

Revolution to Civil War

36 terms

mel12670PLUS

Chapter 10: Post-War Life in the US

27 terms

mel12670PLUS

Other sets by this creator

basic sign -- terminology on hearing loss

23 terms

carolinemarinacPLUS

IT 101 FINAL!!

427 terms

carolinemarinacPLUS

IT 101 test 3 and 4

176 terms

carolinemarinacPLUS

Italian 101 Test #3

155 terms

carolinemarinacPLUS

Other Quizlet sets

Civics

36 terms

jeanne-marieef

History

23 terms

lexi_hill898

American Govt. chapter 6

20 terms

makenzieolson

Ch. 6 Vocab

26 terms

cami1iwac

Related questions

QUESTION

The activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue are collectively referred to as a political participation

10 answers

QUESTION

Congress does NOT have the authority to enforce the equal protection clause. T or F

6 answers

QUESTION

In an important recent decision, the Supreme Court upheld a voucher program for students attending religious and other private schools in Cleveland, Ohio, because

15 answers

QUESTION

a. Special districts can cross multiple counties and have control over one specific area such as mass transit

13 answers

How do checks and balances created tension between Congress and president?

The system of checks and balances gives Congress and the president powers that counteract each other. Bills that are passed by Congress require the presidents signature before it can become a law. The president can veto or threaten to veto a bill.

How do differences in the constituencies create conflicts between the president and members of Congress quizlet?

The different constituencies of the president and Congress cause conflict between the executive and legislative branches because: Congress speaks for a narrower group of people than the president does. A program in the national interest may hurt the people of a state or congressional district.

What events and legislation have shifted the balance of power between Congress and the president quizlet?

what events and legislation have shifted the balance of power between congress and the president? emergency and balancing budget powers and legislative and line-item vetoes.

In what ways can Congress oversee the president quizlet?

Congress chooses the president and vice president if no candidate has a majority in the Electoral College; charges federal officials suspected of misconduct in office and removes them if guilty; and proposes amendments to the Constitution.