The United States Government

The United States government consists of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These branches were created to be coequal with overlapping powers that keep each other branch in check. The branches of government were designed to work well together and be being coequal would result in making decisions that are in the best interests of the people. Each branch is crucial to making sure the federal government works properly. In many ways, the legislative branch seems to have more power than the executive and judicial branches. The Framers of the Constitution wanted the legislative branch to have more power, which is sustained today in the United States government. The Framers also granted the legislative branch certain powers to give them more authority. The three main powers that enable the legislative branch to have this authority are the abilities to appropriate funds, declare war, and create laws.

The power to appropriate funds is crucial to the U.S. government because it enables the flow of funding for the government to function. Congress’ ability to fund government functions provides for everything from entitlements such as: Social Security, Medicaid, to running the nation’s national parks, the postal services, and the work of all federal agencies and the military. Without the legislative branches’ ability to raise revenues and appropriate funds, nothing would function. The Constitutional authority for Congress to fund government also gives Congress a weapon that the Executive and Judicial branches both lack. For example, the President may wish to regulate a certain area such as offshore oil drilling. After the B.P. disaster in the Gulf, the President could have established very onerous regulations o...

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...wers Congress has that makes it paramount to the executive and legislative branches are the abilities to appropriate funds, declare war, and create laws. The ability to appropriate funds is bestowed upon the legislative branch because it is the branch that controls all federal projects and makes rules and regulations on how those projects run. The ability to declare war is entrusted in the legislative branch because Congress is in charge of foreign affairs and National Security; therefore, they can declare war if there is a breach in the nation’s security. The essential ability the legislative branch can do is creating laws. This power is so important because it enables the government to create order, as well as have freedoms, in society and within the government. The legislative branch is the most powerful branch, and will hopefully remain that way, in the future.