Three Branches of Government There are three branches in the United States government; legislative, executive, and judicial branch. Each branch has a few duties they are responsible for. The three branches work independently and together depending on what is going on. All branches are very important to the people of the United States but a branch may look of the others. The Legislative branch is in charge or making laws. The President is in the Executive branch and is appointed as Commander in Chief and makes important decisions for the United States of America.
The judicial branch…. The legislative branch, also called the legislature, makes and votes on laws. If a law wants to be created and enforced it must first go through a process called the Legislative process. The first step of the process is someone writes up a bill they want enforced. A bill can be written by anyone but for congress to hear it a member of congress must present it to them. Next the bill goes to a group of people who know a lot about the topic of the bill. The bill can then be accepted, changed, or rejected.
Numerous committees can read the bill and do what is necessary with it. Experts are sought to read the bill and list the pros and cons. After the committee agrees and all appropriate actions needed the bill goes before the entire congress. The House of Representatives and the Senate will make their own opinions and debate the bill. The members will announce if they are for or against the bill and congress will vote. The bill has to get the majority vote from the Senate and the House of Representatives for it to pass.
Once it has passed the president signs the bill or chooses to veto it. If the president vetoes bill the congress can get two thirds of the vote from the Senate and the House of Representatives to try to overrule the veto. The legislative branch checks over the judicial branch by proposing constitutional amendments that can overturn judicial decisions. The legislature also checks over the executive branch by approving presidential appointments and approving treaties the president makes. They can investigate into the executive branch.
The legislature has the power to impeach over any federal officer, President or Vice President that isn’t doing their job properly. The Legislative branch has the authority to override a presidential veto, can bring up a constitutional amendment if it’s ratified by the states and that can lead into a Supreme Court ruling void. In the legislative branch there is a sub-organization in the United States congress called a congressional committee. They handle the more specific duties rather than the general of the United States congress.
Committee members are there to make out specialized knowledge for the matters under their jurisdiction. They watch the ongoing governmental operations, find issues that the legislature may review, analyze information they have collected, and point out necessary courses of action to their parent body. The Speaker of the House is a very important and powerful job in the Legislative branch. The speaker is the officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of the majority party. The speaker is second to the Vice President of the United States.
The Speaker is an important role in the office but isn’t elected by the nation but is voted on by a congressional district to serve as the Representative in Congress and with the majority vote hold the position as Speaker of the House. Typically, a member chosen for this position has served many years in the House and is very familiar with the tasks and duties of Speaker of the House. They also tend to have previous leadership with similar positions like Majority Leader or Majority Whip. The Executive branch is composed of the President and acts as Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States.
The Presidents main jobs are enforcing the laws Congress has written, appointing head of federal agencies (the Cabinet), and negotiate and sign treaties with other countries, which is ratified by 2/3 of the Senate. The President has the power to either enforce a law or veto the bill although, congress may override the veto. The President is accompanied buy CIA agents, not employed by the Cabinet, that are under full authority of the President regarding his safety and people in the White House planning scandals.
Every January, except inaugural years, the President gives a State of Union speech to let the country know his intentions for the year as President to help the people. Not only is the President engaging in these actions but the Vice President, also part of the Executive Branch, gives their input on the matter trying to help the President make the best decision for the people. The Vice President is number two in the House. As part of the 25th Amendment the Vice President has to be ready to take charge as President at any given time due to an impeachment. resignation, or sudden death of the President.
The Vice President is elected by the Electoral College. Before ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, electors only vote for President and the person who had the second most votes became Vice President. The Vice President will cast a winning vote in the case of a tie. The Vice President gets a private mansion, limousine accompanied by Secret Service, and uses the same jet as the President but when aboard is referred to as Air Force Two or Marine Two. The Cabinet is composed the heads of fifteen executive departments which includes the Vice President.
The Cabinet is responsible for enforcing and administrating federal laws. They were appointed by the President and Senate and are commonly known as the President’s closest confidants. The Cabinet has taken the title of Secretary of State except for the Judicial Department who are known as Attorney General. The Judicial branch checks over the Legislative branch. They have the power to veto a law and make it harder for the Legislature to pass. They are a very important role when it comes to making laws in that they make sure that the bill isn’t violating any part of the Constitution thus, not passing it or making it a law.
The Judicial branch checks the powers of the other branches through power of judicial review. The power of judicial review is the power to declare acts of the other two branches are unconstitutional. It is even possible for the judicial review to invalidate a law sign by the President and passed by Congress. This gives this branch the power to throw out something the other two branches have worked on. This was seen in particular when the President wanted to make everyone have health care as a requirement and a judge saw this as unconstitutional and threw out the law.
Not only do they get to throw out laws they consider illegal or unconstitutional but they are appointed for life. They were nominated and were approved by the President and Senate and cannot be fired unless they commit a crime or are impeached. This helps as the neither President nor Senate can trick or scare anyone to ruling in their favor. This keeps their jobs secure and keeps them honest and constitutional. When someone is not satisfied with the decisions of the lower court they may petition for the United States Supreme Court to hear their case.
The Supreme Court orders the information form the lower court and reviews what they are given to see if the case is suitable for the Supreme Court. The court receives about 7,000 petitions and agrees to 100-150 of them. The Supreme Court is a lot different than normal court as they have their own set of rules. Four of the nine justices must vote to accept the case. Five of the nine must vote for the grant to stay, one justice may grant a stay with a pending review by the whole Court. There are about three or four law clerks per Court team, usually people who just graduated from law school.
They do the legal research to decide whether or not to accept or deny a case. The also help with the questions to be asked by Justices and assist drafting opinions. The law clerk does a lot of the research and questioning and writes a brief summary of the case for everyone to review before the voting of the case begins. A Court case doesn’t begin until the first Monday of October, as they are in recession from late June to early July. The court will hear the cases from October to April on certain days of the week. Usually about two cases will be heard daily starting at about 10:00 A. M. ith each trial is allowed an hour to speak his/her argument, which are open to the public.
Each side is given around 30 minutes to argue their side of the case. After the oral arguments are over the justices decide to accept or deny the case. The Chief Justice casts the first vote after long hours of discussion. Then in descending order of seniority everyone casts their votes. If the voting is a tie then the lower Court decision stands but, this usually only happens when the nine justices aren’t participating. If the majority votes are to hear the case the person will go on trial before the Supreme Court to seek justice.
