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====Overview==== [[File:USCurrency Federal Reserve.jpg|thumb|alt=$100,000-dollar bill.|Congress's [[power of the purse]], which authorizes it to tax citizens, spend money, and print currency]] [[File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) underway in the Gulf of Tonkin on 2 November 1964.jpg|thumb| alt=Aircraft carrier at sea.|Congress authorizes defense spending, such as the purchase of the [[USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)|USS ''Bon Homme Richard'' (CV-31)]]]] [[File:ThompsonWatergate.jpg|thumb|alt=Seated suits behind a microphone.|The [[Senate Watergate Committee]], investigating President [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] and the [[Watergate scandal]] from 1973 to 1974]] [[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One of the Constitution]] creates and sets forth the structure and most of the powers of Congress. Sections One through Six describe how Congress is elected and gives each House the power to create its own structure. Section Seven lays out the process for creating laws, and Section Eight enumerates numerous powers. Section Nine is a list of powers Congress does not have, and Section Ten enumerates powers of the state, some of which may only be granted by Congress.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Epps|first1=Garrett|title=American Epic: Reading the U.S. Constitution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=af8TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |date=2013|publisher=Oxford|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-938971-1|page=9}}</ref> [[Constitutional amendment]]s have granted Congress additional powers. Congress also has [[implied powers]] derived from the Constitution's [[Necessary and Proper Clause]]. Congress has authority over financial and budgetary policy through the enumerated power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States". There is vast authority over budgets, although analyst Eric Patashnik suggested that much of Congress's power to manage the budget has been lost when the welfare state expanded since "entitlements were institutionally detached from Congress's ordinary legislative routine and rhythm."<ref name=tws2010Sep11t14dd2>{{cite news | author= Eric Patashnik | title= The American Congress: The Building of Democracy | publisher= Houghton Mifflin Company | pages= 671–2 | year= 2004 | isbn= 0-618-17906-2 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_MGEIIwT5pUC&q=Zelizer+Julian+2004+American+Congress+The+Building+of+Democracy | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= October 19, 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171019131704/https://books.google.com/books?id=_MGEIIwT5pUC | url-status= live }}</ref> Another factor leading to less control over the budget was a [[Keynesian economics|Keynesian]] belief that balanced budgets were unnecessary.<ref name=tws2010Sep11t14dd2/> The [[Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Sixteenth Amendment]] in 1913 extended congressional power of taxation to include [[income tax]]es without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.<ref name="davidson-p18">Davidson (2006), p. 18.</ref> The Constitution also grants Congress the exclusive power to appropriate funds, and this ''[[power of the purse]]'' is one of Congress's primary [[Separation of powers under the United States Constitution#Checks and balances|checks]] on the executive branch.<ref name="davidson-p18"/> Congress can borrow money on the credit of the United States, [[Commerce Clause|regulate commerce]] with foreign nations and among the states, and coin money.<ref>{{cite news | title= Congress and the Dollar | newspaper= New York Sun | date= May 30, 2008 | url= http://www.nysun.com/editorials/congress-and-the-dollar/78978/ | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= August 1, 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200801071404/https://www.nysun.com/editorials/congress-and-the-dollar/78978/ | url-status= live }}</ref> Generally, the Senate and the House of Representatives have equal legislative authority, although only the House may originate revenue and [[Appropriations bill (United States)|appropriation bills]].<ref name=tws2010Sep11bb/> Congress has an important role in [[defense (military)|national defense]], including the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the [[Military of the United States|armed forces]], and to make rules for the military.<ref>{{cite news | author= Kate Zernike | title= Senate Passes Detainee Bill Sought by Bush | newspaper= The New York Times | date= September 28, 2006 | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/washington/29detaincnd.html | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= January 3, 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200103000202/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/washington/29detaincnd.html | url-status= live }}</ref> Some critics charge that the [[executive branch]] has usurped Congress's constitutionally defined task of declaring war.<ref>{{cite news | title=References about congressional war declaring power}} *{{cite news| author=Dana D. Nelson| title=The 'unitary executive' question| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=October 11, 2008| url=https://latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11,0,224216.story| access-date=October 4, 2009| archive-date=January 14, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214433/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11-story.html| url-status=live}} *{{cite news| author=Steve Holland| title=Obama revelling in U.S. power unseen in decades| agency=Reuters UK| date=May 1, 2009| url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5406CF20090501| access-date=September 28, 2009| archive-date=January 3, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103100212/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5406CF20090501| url-status=dead}} *{{cite news| title=The Law: The President's War Powers| newspaper=Time| date=June 1, 1970| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html| access-date=September 28, 2009| archive-date=August 22, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822171512/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, they asked for and received formal war declarations from Congress for the [[War of 1812]], the [[Mexican–American War]], the [[Spanish–American War]], [[World War I]], and [[World War II]],<ref name=tws28sep07>{{cite news| title=The Law: The President's War Powers| newspaper=Time| date=June 1, 1970| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html| access-date=September 28, 2009| archive-date=August 22, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822171512/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> although President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s military move into Panama in 1903 did not get congressional approval.<ref name="tws28sep07"/> In the early days after the [[Korean War|North Korean invasion of 1950]], President [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] described the American response as a "police action".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=594 | title=The President's News Conference of June 29, 1950 | publisher=Teachingamericanhistory.org | date=June 29, 1950 | access-date=December 20, 2010 | archive-date=December 26, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226063925/http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=594 | url-status=dead }}</ref> According to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine in 1970, "U.S. presidents [had] ordered troops into position or action without a formal congressional declaration a total of 149 times."<ref name="tws28sep07"/> In 1993, [[Michael Kinsley]] wrote that "Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution," and that the "real erosion [of Congress's war power] began after World War{{spaces}}II."<ref>{{cite news| author=Michael Kinsley| title=The Case for a Big Power Swap| newspaper=Time| date=March 15, 1993| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977990,00.html| access-date=September 28, 2009| archive-date=August 13, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813070158/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977990,00.html| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Time Essay: Where's Congress?| newspaper=Time| date=May 22, 1972| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879072-1,00.html| access-date=September 28, 2009| archive-date=May 21, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521074302/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879072-1,00.html| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title= The Law: The President's War Powers | newspaper= Time | date= June 1, 1970 | url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= August 22, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130822171512/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html | url-status= dead }}</ref> Disagreement about the extent of congressional versus presidential power regarding war has been present periodically throughout the nation's history.<ref>{{cite news | title= The proceedings of congress.; senate. | newspaper= The New York Times | date= June 28, 1862 | url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C12FC345B1B7493CAAB178DD85F468684F9 | archive-url= https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010131908/http://www.nytimes.com/1862/06/28/news/the-proceedings-of-congress-senate.html |url-status = dead| archive-date= October 10, 2017 | access-date= September 11, 2010 }}</ref> Congress can establish post offices and post roads, issue patents and [[copyright]]s, fix standards of weights and measures, establish [[Inferior courts of the United States|Courts inferior to the Supreme Court]], and "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof". [[Article Four of the United States Constitution|Article Four]] gives Congress the power to admit new states into the Union. One of Congress's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to [[Congressional investigation|investigate]] and oversee the executive branch.<ref>{{cite news | author= David S. Broder | title= Congress's Oversight Offensive | newspaper= The Washington Post | date= March 18, 2007 | url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031601989.html | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= May 1, 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110501115602/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031601989.html | url-status= live }}</ref> [[Congressional oversight]] is usually delegated to [[United States congressional committee|committees]] and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power.<ref>{{cite news | author= Thomas Ferraro | title= House committee subpoenas Rice on Iraq | work= Reuters | date= April 25, 2007 | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2518728220070425 | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= January 14, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214442/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2518728220070425 | url-status= live }}</ref> Some critics have charged that Congress has in some instances failed to do an adequate job of [[Congressional oversight|overseeing]] the other branches of government. In the [[Plame affair]], critics including Representative [[Henry A. Waxman]] charged that Congress was not doing an adequate job of oversight in this case.<ref>{{cite news|author=James Gerstenzang |title=Bush claims executive privilege in Valerie Plame Wilson case |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 16, 2008 |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/07/cheney-plame-ag.html |access-date=October 4, 2009 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801095524/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/07/cheney-plame-ag.html |archive-date=August 1, 2008 }}</ref> There have been concerns about congressional oversight of executive actions such as [[warrantless wiretapping]], although others respond that Congress did investigate the legality of presidential decisions.<ref>{{cite news | author1=Elizabeth B. Bazan |author2=Jennifer K. Elsea |author3=legislative attorneys | title=Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information | publisher=Congressional Research Service | date=January 5, 2006 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/angler/crsreview-2006.pdf | access-date=September 28, 2009 | archive-date=February 5, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205042154/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/angler/crsreview-2006.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> Political scientists Ornstein and Mann suggested that oversight functions do not help members of Congress win reelection. Congress also has the exclusive [[Federal impeachment in the United States|power of removal]], allowing impeachment and removal of the president, federal judges and other federal officers.<ref>{{cite news | author1= Linda P. Campbell | author2= Glen Elsasser | name-list-style= amp | title= Supreme Court Slugfests A Tradition | newspaper= Chicago Tribune | date= October 20, 1991 | url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/10/20/supreme-court-slugfests-a-tradition/ | access-date= September 11, 2010 | archive-date= April 29, 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110429192843/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-10-20/news/9104040635_1_senate-judiciary-committee-first-high-court-nominee-confirmation/2 | url-status= live }}</ref> There have been charges that presidents acting under the doctrine of the [[unitary executive]] have assumed important legislative and budgetary powers that should belong to Congress.<ref>{{cite news | author=Eric Cantor | title=Obama's 32 Czars | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=July 30, 2009 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902624.html | access-date=September 28, 2009 | archive-date=August 31, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831202255/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902624.html | url-status=live }}</ref> So-called [[signing statements]] are one way in which a president can "tip the balance of power between Congress and the White House a little more in favor of the executive branch", according to one account.<ref>{{cite news | author=Christopher Lee | title=Alito Once Made Case For Presidential Power | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=January 2, 2006 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/01/AR2006010100788.html | access-date=October 4, 2009 | archive-date=January 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214425/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/01/AR2006010100788.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Past presidents, including [[Ronald Reagan]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], and [[George W. Bush]],<ref>{{cite news | author=Dan Froomkin | title=Playing by the Rules | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=March 10, 2009 | url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/bush-rollback/playing-by-the-rules.html | access-date=October 4, 2009 | archive-date=January 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214428/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/bush-rollback/playing-by-the-rules.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> have made public statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it, and commentators, including the [[American Bar Association]], have described this practice as against the spirit of the Constitution.<ref>{{cite news | author=Dana D. Nelson | title=The 'unitary executive' question | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=October 11, 2008 | url=https://latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11,0,224216.story | access-date=October 4, 2009 | archive-date=January 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214451/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11-story.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author=Charlie Savage | title=Obama Undercuts Whistle-Blowers, Senator Says | newspaper=The New York Times | date=March 16, 2009 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17signing.html | access-date=October 4, 2009 | archive-date=January 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214415/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17signing.html | url-status=live }}</ref> There have been concerns that presidential authority to cope with financial crises is eclipsing the power of Congress.<ref>{{cite news | author1=Binyamin Appelbaum | author2=David Cho | name-list-style=amp | title=U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms Goal Is to Limit Risk to Broader Economy | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=March 24, 2009 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302830.html | access-date=September 28, 2009 | archive-date=January 14, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214525/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302830.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, [[George F. Will]] called the Capitol building a "tomb for the antiquated idea that the legislative branch matters".<ref name=tws28sep>{{cite news | author=George F. Will – op-ed columnist | title=Making Congress Moot | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=December 21, 2008 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/19/AR2008121902929.html | access-date=September 28, 2009 | archive-date=May 1, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501115643/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/19/AR2008121902929.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
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