Executive Branch Research Paper

In the United States government, there are three branches: The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which forms the United States Congress. The Executive Branch is basically just the President and the Vice President heading over the armed forces, coming up with and enforcing laws written by Congress, and the Vice President assumes the Presidency if needed. The Judicial Branch is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate; Congress makes the shape and structure of the federal judiciary. All three branches are very important to the structure of the United States government.
The Legislative Branch is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate,
which forms the U.S. Congress. The Legislative Branch is the only branch of government that has the power the enact legislation, the power to declare war, the right to either appoint or reject Presidential requests (like laws, acts, etc.) and has the right to investigate other branches. The Legislative Branch has the right to oversee the Executive Branch and reviews, monitors, supervises federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation. Congress can do this because of the congressional committee system. All of the power given to Congress is stated in the Constitution of the United States. Along with the oversight of the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch also oversees United States federal agencies. Congress is also made up of the Speaker of the House, The Senate President Pro Tempore, majority leaders, minority leaders, and also party whips. The Speaker of the House represents constituents as Member of Congress, acts as administrative head of the House, and is also the leader of the majority political party in the House. The Speaker of the House is also right behind the Vice President in the Presidential standings. For example, if the President and Vice President passed away or resigned from office, then the Speaker of the House would become the President of the United States until the next election. The President Pro Tempore is in charge of the Senate if the Vice President is not present. Also, the President Pro Tempore used to be in the right behind the Vice President in the Presidential standings, but in 1947 a law passed that put the Speaker ahead of the Pro Tempore in the Presidential standings. The Majority and Minority leaders are leaders that serve as spokesmen for their parties' positions on whatever issue is at hand. The Majority leader schedules business and keeps his/her members informed of the daily legislative schedule. The Minority leader and Majority leader will meet and consult agreements on how much time a debate needs to be limited to and divides it between the two parties.
Party Whips are elected by both parties in the Senate. The term whip comes from a hunting expression that refers to the member of the hunting team that is responsible to keep the hunting dogs with the team during a hunting adventure. Party Whips are assistants to the minority and majority leaders, filling in for them if needed, and are responsible for keeping a head count and gathering party members for votes and calls. The structure of the Legislative Branch is very complex and has many committees. Members of Congress also serve on committees and subcommittees, also known as little legislatures. They may be little, but these committees do most of the work in creating bills and shaping laws in Congress. These committees help divide the labor and helps Congress work more efficiently. There are four types of committees: Standing, Conference, Select, and Joint. Standing committees are the most common committees and they deal with issues that have a legislative concern. Standing committees also have many subcommittees that deal with the more specific areas of a concern. Conference committees are very common, but not as common as standing committees, and they deal with
differences between the House and the Senate when a bill is trying to be passed. For a bill to become a law, both the House and the Senate have to agree upon the same version of a bill. If the houses come up with differing bills, then the conference committee will come up with a single bill for both the House and the Senate to vote on. Kind of like a middle man. Select committees are only selected for a short time and only for a specific purpose. Joint committees include members from both houses to deal with a certain, specific issue. Finally, there is the Legislative Process. The Legislative Process starts out as someone, or multiple people, thinking of an idea for a law. Next, a representative supports the law and sponsors it. Then, the bill is assigned to a committee for study and if it is released by the committee, the bill is then put on the calendar to be voted, debated or amended. If this bill is passed by House majority, then the bill moves on to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is released to a committee, most likely a Standing committee, and then possibly released to be debated and/or voted on again. A 51/100 in the Senate means the bill will be passed on to the conference committee, made up of both House and Senate members. Here, they work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Then, the revised bill returns to the House and Senate for a final time. If it is agreed upon, then the bill will go to the Government Printing Office and then be considered an enrolled bill. Finally, the enrolled bill will be sent off to the President and then the President will have 10 days to either sign the bill and make it into a law or veto it and discard of it. All in all, the Legislative Branch is very important to the structure of the United States government.
The Executive Branch's power is controlled by the President of the United States.
The President also acts as the head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The Cabinet of the Executive Branch is responsible for enforcement and administration of the federal laws on a daily basis. Fun Fact: the Executive Branch employs more than 4 million Americans. The President is head of the state and also head of the government of the United States and he or she is also the Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces. Due to the 2nd article of the Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. There are fifteen executive departments and each department is led by a chosen member of the President's Cabinet; they carry out day-to-day administration of the federal government. The 25th Amendment deals with the succession to the Presidency and establishes the procedure to follow for filling in the office in the absence of the President. The 25th Amendment supersedes the wording of Article 11, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution and tells what the Vice President becomes the President or Acting President if the real President is to die, become impeached, or quits. The White house staff has a decent-sized role in helping the President and his decisions. The staff suggests ideas that the President would not have thought about, since they might not affect him as much as they would the staff. If the President
agrees with what his or her staff has to say, then he will take in to consideration what the staff member suggested. The purpose of the State of the Union Speech, given by the President, is one of the most anticipated speeches given by the President. The Speech is given once a year and it is normally given during a joint session of Congress. The United States Constitution requires that the President must give Congress information about the state of the Union and how it is doing. Congress may recommend ideas and/or measures to help certain issues at hand; the President can enact or ignore Congress's suggestions by his or her judgment on how necessary the issue is. The Speech is basically the President giving a personal assessment of the United States. The Speech emphasizes problems and information on the economy and the budget. In recent speeches, the President has used an optimistic tone even during dire domestic and/or foreign affairs. Fun Fact: every President since Reagan has said the state of the union is "strong", or has used another word that is a synonym to the word "strong". The President's Cabinet is consisted of the Vice President and the heads of the fifteen executive departments, which includes the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veteran Affairs. The Cabinet's roles include advising the President on the subjects pertaining to their department. Like usual, the President can either enact or ignore their advice and suggestions. The Executive Branch is the top of the line branch of government and possibly the most important branch.