Should Congress Have Too Much Power Essay

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The great depression changed the country to its very core. The extreme amount of economic and physical hardships called for drastic change in how the government's power was distributed. Following the creation and execution of the New Deal, the power of the president was believed to have increased. The people’s calls for direct and hasty action were granted with FDR’s plans, and as the country became more filled with people and regulations, quick and hasty could not be accomplished through congress. But congress was still squarely the most powerful. And this is what the founding fathers wanted. The branch with the most connection to it’s constituents, should have the most power. But things move slowly in congress, so many called for more direct …show more content…

Chief among them being the ability to make laws. And they are the only ones that can do this. Sure, a president could work with a senator and preach his support for a bill and help it become law, but it still has to pass through the many committees and voting processes in both houses of congress. This gives congress the inherent ability to control the regulations that define the very fabric of society and the economy. They can control taxes (though a tax bill can originate only in the House of Representatives), regulate commerce, and can create federal law that governs the entire country. All these powers fall under this one power, and congress has many more. The ability to ratify treaties, declare war, create committees, impeach, and other enumerable powers are also relegated to Congress, cloaking it in immense power. And though the founding fathers wanted this, some feared it, such as James Madison, who called it an “impetuous vortex” in the Federalist Papers. This fear likely caused the reason for the branch to become divided into multiple houses in the Great Compromise, and granting the President the ability to veto (though also giving congress the ability to override said veto). Congress gave the most power to the branch that would take the most time to use said …show more content…

More people has created more government, more rules and regulations to bog down the execution of Congress’s enumerated powers. But it has not lost any powers, and other branches have not explicitly gained enough power to de-throne congress as the most powerful branch of government. FDR’s execution of the New Deal brought with it the modern president. His ability to execute his powers quickly and effectively brought approval ratings up, and congress’s inability to move quickly made them in seem like an ineffective powerless body of government, though quite opposite was

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