The Three Branches of the United States Government There are three branches within the federal government that work with conjunction to one another. They are called the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. They each have different duties and powers that are outlined by the United States Constitution. The duty of the legislative branch, in the most simple of terms, is to write laws. The executive branch enforces the laws, and the main duty of the judicial branch is to interpret each law. Each of the branches helps keep balance between one another by checking their powers. The legislative branch has impeachment power over the executive branch, and can override the executive’s vetoes with a two-thirds vote. The legislative can also …show more content…
Each state is represented equally, with two members from each state. The Senate also has a sort of presiding officer called the President Pro tempore. The tempore originally only served in the absence of the vice president, but now holds a full job. The tempore is elected by the Senate, and they are able to speak and vote; however they cannot break a vote like the vice president Like the Speaker of the House, the tempore traditionally is a senior member of the majority party. When the Vice President is away, the Tempore and the Speaker usually hold joint meeting together. The tempore is the tempore until they retire, die, or if their party loses the majority. They also may appoint other Senate member to do their duties while they are absent. When appointing members, sometimes they appoint junior members to help them learn the swing of things. The tempore is the fourth in line for …show more content…
There are different types of sessions: special session, extraordinary session, joint session, Pro Forma session, lame duck session, closed session, and executive session. A special session is when the state holds another meeting after a die adjournment. An extraordinary session happens when the President calls in a session after a die adjournment. A joint session occurs when the Senate and House of Representatives meet, this can be for many reasons. A pro forma session lasts only for a few minutes, and is a brief meeting of the Senate. A lame duck session happens when Congress meets after the November elections. Some of Congress who attend this session did not get re-elected, thus the phrase lame duck. A closed session refers to a secret session in which confidential information is debated. In an executive session, the senate meets to talk about treaties or presidential nominations.
Congress also holds a recess. This recess started out as a long holiday in the spring in the 1800s, so the staff could escape the heat and pain of no air conditioning. As air conditioning evolved, Congress began to hold year-long sessions. This resulted in very little off time, so Congress got together to bring about a recess. This recess now happens in the month of August, because of the Legislative Organization Pact that was passed in
With these powers come several responsibilities, among them a Constitutional requirement to “from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Although the President may fulfill this requirement in any way he or she chooses, Presidents have traditionally given a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress each January (except in inaugural years) outlining their agenda for the coming
The United States Congress was created by the framers of the Constitution as the most important part of the legislative branch of the national government. The Congress was set up with a bicameral structure composed by the House of Representatives or Lower Chamber and the Senate or Upper Chamber. According to “Origins and Development” and “History of the House”, two descriptions of the history of the Congress, both chambers assembled for the very first time in New York in 1789 and then moved to Philadelphia in 1790 where they stayed for 10 years. In 1800 the Congress moved to Washington, DC; however, it was not until 1857 and 1859 that the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively moved to their current meeting locations in the Capitol after its restoration due to the British invasion of 1814 that burned the building. With more than two centuries legislating, the Congress has acquired great expertise in governing the country and meeting the Constitution’s mandates. Yet, in order to accomplish all its tasks the Congress has a very well-defined structure and very specific ways to proceed. Indeed, in order to undertake the most important of its mandates, “to enact law”, the Congress has a rigorous procedure that is combined with some of the different structural elements of Congress which indicate the direction that bills must follow once introduced. One of the most important of such elements is the congressional committee structure.
Congress is in session far more than that of the part-time Texas legislature. The Texas Legislators must create laws for the second most populated, second largest State, This is not a part time task. The Texas congress could easily be in session year-round. Many issues brought up while the Texas Legislature is not in session are left in limbo as they await the next legislative session. An ideal legislature is working around the calendar to ensure that they are serving as leaders.
Every odd-numbered year, the legislature assembles to make new laws to fix modern issues occuring in the state. These meetings always begin on the second Tuesday of January and is called the regular session, which lasts up to 140 days. The Governor can direct the legislature on matters for no more than
This is the dysfunctional aspect of gridlock. Studying the reasons behind dysfunction, the implications of this dysfunction, and how it impacts the rest of the nation politically and socially has become one of the best ways to study Congress because it has defined Congress for years. Many of these theories, like Congress itself, disagree with each other and look at different sides of the same coin in many instances. By looking at these theories and what they say it will help everyone better understand how Gridlock has shaped the politics of the nation, and just the nation itself.
The Senate also has many different responsibilities. In order to be a senate the qualifications you must have are you must be at least thirty years
3 The legislative branch is the lawmaking branch of government. 4 The executive branch is the branch that enforces the laws of government power, and the judicial branch oversees the enforcement and creation of laws so that they are following the rulebook of the founding ideas of governmental power. All of these branches shown in any representation of government would be a practical representation. 4. 1 Demonstrate knowledge of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal
The Senate, is made up of fifty people, two senators from each state. In order for someone to be elected as a senator, he/she must be at least thirty years of age, as well as a U.S. Citizen for a minimum of nine years. Unique to the Senate, are the approvals of presidential appointees and treaties. Also in the Senate, are leaders who are essentially senators with special and titles. One of these leaders is the Vice President of the United States, who votes on issues only in the event of a tie. Second, is the President Pro-T...
The rise of the use of recess appointments has led the Senate to come up with unjust practices to keep the president from having an opening to recess appoint. Pro-forma sessions were created by Senate democrats to stop President George W. Bush from making recess appointments. Pro-forma sessions were an open Senate floor to start business for the Senate. However, only one senator was needed to bang the gavel into a meeting. These sessions could be as short at thirty seconds. This would deny the President from being able to make any recess appointments, because the Senate would not be in recess, although most members were not in for the session and no votes could be held. These pro-forma sessions are a deceitful way to keep the President from fairly appointing in Senate
In the American political system, Congress plays a vital role. Whether it concerns legislation, finances and taxes, or investigation, Congress is a necessary entity for politics. With rules and regulations, Congress can effectively pass legislation that betters the United States. However, sometimes, Congress fails to answer and provide remedy to pressing issues that the United States face, which results in the failure of Congress enacting legislation regarding the most debatable and critical issues. Usually, congressional gridlock occurs when different parties are dominant in the House of Representatives and Senate, and the Houses do not come to conclusions on the issues.
There are three branches of the federal government, the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. The executive branch consists of such people as the president, the cabinet, and the executive offices of the president. The executive branch is known for enforcing laws created by the legislative branch. The judicial branch entails the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Judiciary. The judicial branch must review the laws the executive branch is to enforce. There is also the legislative branch. This branch contains the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and the Library of Congress. Laws are created through the legislative branch.
As one party controls the House and Senate, and another controls the President, the ability for a bill to be passed takes much longer as a bipartisan agreement must be met. This also results in a gridlock, as the President controls the veto power and Congress has the key to the treasury and enacting bills. For example, during the Clinton Administration in 1995-1996, the federal government had a temporary shutdown as President and Congress couldn’t come to a compromise for the budget regarding funding of Medicare, education, the environment, and public health. Due to divided government, the federal government was in a complicated situation and no beneficial solution was achieved in a short period of time. However, a resolution can be formed in this instance.
And is introduced by the speaker of the house and can be introduced as early as 60 days prior to session. It is numbered and is read for the first time, then assigned to a committee, each house has standing committees that consider their bills. Each committee has a chair ( from the majority) and a ranking member ( from the minority) they edit the bill so that it may pass onto the floor with different stages of review including analysis, and public hearing, then the house debates and votes, the bill os then sent to the calendar committee for assignment to a calendar. When the committee has reported the bill favorably to the floor the speaker determines which bills are discussed and for how long. Bills are then considered by the whole house at once, it's called, a ‘committee of a whole.’ Roll call votes are done electronically in the house or can be done by voice booting with a collection of “yeas” and “nays”. The bill then goes to second reading, editing, debating and then voted on again and then goes to a third hearing to make more changes before it is sent to the senate. The senate majority leaders determines which bills are scheduled when and for how
If Congress is not in session and the bill goes unsigned then the bill dies in what is known as a pocket veto. The president can veto the bill all together, which
The legislative branch the first branch of the three, consist of two branches establishing Congress, the House and Senate. Each of these components elected by residents of each state has specific requirements that they must follow. The House objectives has several powers assigned exclusively to it, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an electoral college tie (Quote GCU). The Senate objectives are managed by the Vice President of the country, known to be the President of there group. Under the President the Senate confirms appointments that requires consent and ratifies treaties (Quote GCU). This helps the entire branch with duties that are performed.