Essay On Government Branches

The 3 Branches Research Paper

In the United States we have three different branches that make up our government. The branches include: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Even though they are all part of the U.S. government, they all have separate powers and responsibilities. For example, the legislative branch is able to make a law, while the executive branch enforces that law. All of the branches are made up of many different people with their own rolls in the branch.
Legislative Branch: The legislative branch has the power to check over the executive branch by holding impeachment powers, override a presidential veto to pass a law, and “approve foreign treaties”.
The legislative branch checks over the
judicial branch by changing charges the Supreme Court ruled by amending the constitution, and also holds the power to impeach a judge. The legislative branch has many separate leaders each with their own role to the branch. The Speaker of the House is a self-explanatory, they are the representative of the House. However, they do have other jobs as well such as: presenting parliamentary proposals, nominating committee members, and transfer bills to the council. The main role of the Senate President Pro Tempore is to act and lead as the president when he is not there. The Majority Leader is the head speaker for the majority group during debates, but he also helps the president with policy determinations and development. The Minority Leader is the lead speaker in debates for the minority group and also negotiate with the majority group. The Majority Whip helps the Majority leader and also keeps track of attendance. The Minority Whip tallies votes and does all the same jobs as the majority whip. The congressional committees are made up by standing and select committees. A standing committee is one that cannot go away, examples of this are: Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Armed Services, and Committee on Appropriations. A select committee usually goes away after the task they were assigned to complete has been completed. An example of a select committee is the Select Committee for the Benghazi Attack. The legislative branch can form bills but has to pass through many steps. There are thirteen steps in total for a bill to be passed. The first step is, to send it to a standing committee. The second step, would be getting inspected by that committee to see if it can be passed. The third step, is getting a subcommittee to inspect the bill, although this is not always necessary as it can be determined in the second step. Step four is, changes that need to be made to the bill will be made by a subcommittee. The fifth step, sends it to the full committee for more inspections then the committee votes on it in a process called “reporting”. Step six is, to make a written document that describes how the bill will impact laws and what all it will do once it is passed. The seventh step, the bill is sent back to where it was created and then passed on a calendar for it to reach debate. Step eight is, the actual debate to have the bill passed. Step nine, is the voting that follows the debate if it does not get enough votes, it dies right there. Step ten is where it is sent to another chamber if the voting was in its favor, here they can add additional contents in the bill or leave it be. In step eleven, if the bill was hanged during step ten, then the House and Senate have to reach agreement in the differences of the bill. In step twelve, it is then passed on to the president, where he can then make it a law or veto it. Step thirteen is the final step and this is where congress tries to overturn a veto if it was called for during step twelve. Those are the main roles of the legislative branch. It can still have power over branches and gains new power due to certain circumstances. In short terms the legislative branch is the branch where all laws are made and passed after they go through a long process.
Executive Branch: The executive branch is where the laws that were made in the legislative branch are enforced. Like the legislative branch, there are many different people involved in the executive branch. The executive branch doesn’t have as much authority over the other branches like the legislative branch does, but there are some instances where it does. The executive branch has power over the judicial branch by hiring judges and impeaching them. It also has power over the legislative branch by turning down laws waiting to be passed and by reaching agreements with foreign countries. The president of the United States also serves as our head of state. This position requires him to represent America and be symbolic the American people. Examples of this are: speeches he may make, awarding and congratulating people on personal achievements. The president is influenced by the White House staff very much. In total there are about four hundred staff members. The president of the United States gets to specifically pick who he wants to be in his White House staff and assign them work without the need of permission from anyone else. However, the people that he does hire does not actually possess the power of law. The staff of the White House is able to give the president advice about legal matters with the help of their lawyers and counsel. The twenty-fifth amendment is a list of rules split into 4 different sections, specifically stating what should happen if the president cannot act as president. In the first section, it mainly says that if the president were killed or resigns while he is still in office then the Vice President will be the one to take his position. The second section is basically the same as the first, except it deals the Vice President being taken out of office. It states that if the Vice president dies or resigns, the president will have to select a capable candidate that Congress will later vote on, then they may take over the Vice presidents role. The third section says that with a written statement the president may pass the role to the Vice president for a short time until another statement is written to end it. The final section is about the Vice president and cabinet members overruling the presidency if they think the president is incapable of doing so. They have to have a written statement explain why they feel the president is unfit to complete his duties. However, the president may try to overrule this by giving his statement as well. In the constitution it says the president must have an annual meet with Congress to discuss matters about the nation. This meeting is usually called “the State of Union”. The president and congress members will talk about what they believe needs to be fixed or worked on in the United States. The topics that are covered can vary but usually are about education, economy and health care. The president’s cabinet is made of six-teen different members including the Vice president. Each member is in charge of a separate department of the government and must tell the president any important information he should know based on the department they’re in charge of. The six-teen members and departments include: Vice president, Department of State, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Human Services, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing Development, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice and lastly the Department of the Treasury. That’s the end of all the executive branches powers. Many important people come together to make up the executive branch and each person has a separate duty, including the president of the United States. Each person or department has their own powers in what they are able to do, however they are limited by other people in the same and different branches.
Judicial Branch: The judicial branch is where your punishment for breaking a law is decided.
They also have the power to decide the meaning of a law. The biggest part of the judicial branch is the Supreme Court, but there are more groups that make up the rest of this branch. The judicial branch has power over the executive branch since the president is not allowed to fire a Supreme Court judge. It also has power over the legislative branch because they can choose if a law goes against the constitution. Those are the only two restrictions on the other branches that the judicial branch has. Certain court cases have to be argued in front of the Supreme Court. You have to go to local court first then you are given the choice to appeal it to a higher court if the case was not in your favor. If you do choose the appeal it you can keep going to court and appealing until you reach as far as possible which is the Supreme Court. Even after you appeal that far the Supreme Court must still decide to hear it after reading the history of your case. If or when your case makes it to the Supreme Court, you and your opponent each get thirty minutes to state your argument. You are not allowed a witness or jury, so all the decisions are made by the nine
Justices.