What Branch of Government is the Most Powerful

Driving Question: What branch of government is the most powerful? DIRECTIONS: Examine the breakdown of power for each branch and record reflections below. EXECUTIVE BRANCH As president, or the head of the executive branch, you have the power to: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Propose laws to the Congress (the legislative branch); Sign bills into law; Veto bills from becoming laws; Issue executive orders (based on enforcement of existing law) Negotiate treaties with foreign countries; Make executive appointments (to the Cabinet; Supreme Court; federal agencies, etc) Grant pardons to federal offenders. Commander-in-Chief of the military You can check the powers of the Congress by: ● Proposing new legislation; ● Vetoing bills from becoming laws. ● Using the “bully pulpit” to speak to the American public You can check the powers of the Supreme Court by: ● ● ● ● Appointing judges who share your political viewpoints; and Using discretion in enforcing the Court’s decisions. Issue executive orders that go around court rulings Threaten to work with Congress to reorganize the judiciary Reflections: 1. Arguments that this is the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? The Executive Branch is the most powerful branch because they have ultimate say in the legislation and the laws that get passed in the country. For example, they’re able to sign bills that the Legislative Branch proposes into law. Being able to sign bills into law gives them power over the Legislative Branch since any law that they try to pass has to go through the Executive Branch in order to take effect. Not only that but the Executive Branch is also able to veto bills from becoming laws and strike down anything that they deem is unworthy to become law. Therefore, anything that the Legislative Branch tries to execute can just be stopped by the Executive Branch by vetoing it, therefore giving them pretty much the ultimate say in the legislation. 2. Arguments that this is NOT the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? The Executive Branch is not the most powerful branch because of the threat of impeachment, can have vetoes overridden by the Legislative Branch, and can have power limited by the Judicial Branch. If the president were to do something unconstitutional or just blatantly abuse their power, they would possibly be impeached by the Legislative Branch if there’s a majority vote. Not only that but the Legislative Branch is also able to override the vetoes that the president imposed if there are enough votes for it. Finally, the Judicial Branch is able to limit or narrow the Executive Branch’s power through Judicial Review. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH As a member of the Congress, or the legislative branch, you have the power to: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Introduce and pass new bills; (including taxes, spending and commerce) Override a presidential veto; Coin money; Borrow money on behalf of the United States; Appropriate money to the executive branch and to the states; Declare war and define the limits of military actions Impeach and remove the president and Supreme Court justices Conduct investigations (subpoena power) You can check the powers of the president by: ● ● ● ● Overriding a presidential veto on a bill; Impeaching or removing the president; and Approving presidential appointments to the Supreme Court, Cabinet, federal agencies. Cutting funding for executive departments (“Power of the Purse”) You can check the powers of the Supreme Court by: ● ● ● ● Confirming judicial appointments to the Court; Impeaching or removing justices; and Proposing new amendments to the Constitution. Determining appellate jurisdiction and structure of “inferior courts” Reflections: 3. Arguments that this is the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? The Legislative Branch is the most powerful branch because it’s able to control whether or not members of the other branches are able to stay in power. This is because they’re able to impeach or remove the president from office and can impeach or remove justices from the courts. As long as there are enough votes in Congress, they’re able to impeach and remove anyone that they believe has done unconstitutional acts 4. Arguments that this is NOT the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? The Legislative Branch is not the most powerful branch because their powers can be severely limited by the different branches. For example, the Judicial Branch is able to limit the power of the branch through the power of Judicial Review. Because of Judicial Review, their powers can be narrowed down through different cases that go through the Judicial Branch, therefore making them not the most powerful branch. JUDICIAL BRANCH / SUPREME COURT As a member of the Supreme Court, the highest court, you have the power to: ● ● ● ● ● Declare laws and state actions unconstitutional; Overturn state and federal court proceedings Interpret/Make meaning of laws and constitutional provisions “Says what the law is” Choose your own docket of cases to decide You can check the powers of the president by: ● Declaring executive acts unconstitutional. ● Interpreting executive power narrowly You can check the powers of the Congress by: ● Declaring laws unconstitutional. ● Interpreting legislative power narrowly Reflections: 5. Arguments that this is the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? The Judicial Branch is the most powerful branch because of how they’re able to interpret the Constitution to how they see fit. The power that allows them to do so is called Judicial Review. 6. Arguments that this is NOT the most powerful branch? Checks/balances? President and congress is able to appoint whoever is in the supreme court