Congressional vs. Presidential Powers

620 Words3 Pages
Although different in nature, congress and the President of the United States both hold positions of upmost power and unequivocally important decision-making for the American people. However, the argument always stands: who has more power? The power problem as it stands “...is the need to grant government enough power to effectively address the problems that people expect government to solve, while also limiting power so that it can be held accountable” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.42). Far from perfect, the political system in place attempts to grant both Congress and The President exclusive and shared responsibilities to provide an equal spread of power. Upon founding of the United States government, not all three branches were to share the same amount of power. In fact, “Congress was the most powerful branch of government” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.43). However, over time, due to representation responsibilities and compromise, Congress has lost much of the lawmaking influence. “...the president has taken the lead in...national defense and foreign policy, and...domestic policy such as fiscal policy” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.44). Under Article I of the Constitution however, Congress holds many exclusive and monumentary powers, including but not limited to: budgetary powers (taxation, control of national debt), military powers (declare war), lawmaking (passing federal legislation), representation of constituents, investigation, and serving its consittuents. Congress also has dominion over other branches of government: the House of Representatives, for example, holds control over impeaching governement officials and controls the budget for other branches. The Senate must approve treaties and holds power to confirm or unapprove “...federal judgeships, ambassadorships, and cabinet level posts” (Katznelson, Kesselman, Draper, p.45).
Open Document