Is Congress a Watchdog or Lapdog?

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Is Congress a watchdog or lapdog? Personally, I believe that Congress is a watchdog, whether it is a united or a divided government. However, many people may disagree with this because they may believe that whether or not the Congress is a watchdog or lapdog depends on the government being divided or united. The reason for this is: if it is a united government, Congress will not want to embarrass the President by constantly putting him into account. However, this is not true because the Congress is both an independent and co-equal branch of Government. As David Obey said “We may belong to the same party but we are an independent branch”. Checks and balances are required to keep the government stable and avoid the President going against the wishes of the people. “I think Barack Obama is terrific. But people still need to recognise we have an institutional responsibility to do oversight on the President” Garry Bass, Congress. This quote supports my view on the Congress being a watchdog. If the Congress is a lapdog, the President can have a free ride on running the country how he wishes and not represent the people’s view. However that is not the case as the President cannot do everything which pleases him. However, looking at the statistics such as Bill Clintons presidency, in the first 2 years which was a united government, Congress exercised limited oversight, and when needed to, asked softball questions, however , when Republicans took over Congress, things got much harder as they seek to hold the President to account, and after a while, impeach. Although this shows that things are more different when it is a united or divided government, Congress still has a task to do in which they must do oversight on President, so, it being united or divided government should not affect the task Congress are suppose to do, as they are an independent
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