Comparing The Three Branches Of The Federal Government

As described in the Constitution of the United States, the federal Government is organized into 3 branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, and is maintained through a system of checks and balances. The three branches work together to ensure no particular branch gains too much control. For example, the Legislative branch, makes laws, the Executive branch approves or vetoes these laws, and the Judicial Branch evaluates said laws against the Constitution. The Legislature, or Congress, is the first branch to be described in the Constitution. Article 1 Section 1, of the United States Constitution: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”
Within this module, I have learned a greater understanding of the federal legislative process and its role as one of the foundations of our representative system.

The basic understanding of how laws are made is when a member of one of the two houses introduces a bill for consideration, the bill is discussed in a subcommittee, regular committee, then the entire house.
The same process takes place in the other house and when both houses come to a majority agreement that bill is given to the President for approval and becomes law. But there is a lot more to it than this. In order to properly represent the wants and needs of their constituents, the two houses of congress were created – the Senate to equally represent the states as a whole and the House of Representatives to represent the population of each state. The sources for proposed bills don’t necessarily always originate from a Member of Congress. Through the First Amendment of the Constitution, the Member’s Constituents have the right to petition and transmit their proposals to a Member. The Member may then introduce the proposal as is or redraft it to frame the ideas in a suitable manner. In addition, elected Resident Commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Delegates from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands may also introduce a bill. A bill originating in the House of Representatives is designated by the letters “H.R.” and a Senate bill by the letter “S”. A “companion bill” is a bill introduced in one House that is similar or
identical to a bill introduced in the other. Copies of the bill are sent to the office of the chairman of the committee to which it has been referred, (each committee’s jurisdiction is divided into certain subject matter). The committees provide the most intensive consideration to a proposed measure. They seek input of the relevant departments and agencies about the bill, frequently submit to the General Accounting Office, meet to discuss among members, and may set a date for a public hearing. They then vote to determine the action of the committee, offer amendments to change the bill, and submit a report. The bill then is debated between the houses and amendments are offered during a section by section reading of the proposed bill. At the conclusion of the readings and amendments, the passage or rejection of the bill is made. The decision is not final however, and a motion to reconsider may be made at this stage. Further consideration is taken and a vote arises. There are three types of votes, voice, division, and recorded.