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The Role of Congress Questions and Answers
How is Congress still vital to today's governmental process?
How is Congress still vital to today's governmental process?
The Congress remains vital to the operations of our government.
Congress has lawmaking power. The U.S. Constitution created the Congress and named it the legislative branch - the branch with the power to write laws. No laws can govern the nation unless enacted by Congress and then approved by the President.
Congress has the "Power of the Purse." The Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse. Under Article 1 [section 8], the Congress is given the power to tax and impose tariffs, duties, and other measures to collect revenue for the U.S. Treasury. It is also given the authority to borrow money on credit on behalf of the United States. Article 1 [section 9, clause 7] of the U.S. Constitution, states no money can be appropriated [spent] out of the U.S. Treasury except by Act of Congress. This means that governmental agencies and departments may not spend any money for their operations and programs that Congress has not appropriated nor use any federal money for any purpose that Congress has not expressly authorized.
Congress has the power to mint money. Article 1, clause 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the exclusive right to coin money, issue currency, and regulate its value.
Congress has power over commerce. Article 1, clause 8, of the Constitution grants Congress authority over interstate commerce, which covers all movement of people and things across state lines, and which includes regulation over every form of communication and transportation.
Congress has power over the Judiciary. The Constitution created the U.S. Supreme Court, however it leaves to Congress the creation of appellate and lower courts, and allows Congress to set their jurisdictions and duties. Also, the Senate must confirm nominations of judges.
Congress has power over the Executive Branch. Congress also exercises "oversight," or supervision over the Executive branch and its activities. It has the power to investigate the programs and actions of the President and his administration.
Congress has power over foreign affairs. In Article II [section 2], the Constitution gives the Senate the responsibility to ratify treaties negotiated by the President with foreign nations before they can take effect. In many cases, current law has to be changed before the intent of many treaties can be carried out. In those cases, both the House and Senate must first pass implementing legislation to make the necessary changes to existing law.
These are only a few examples of the breadth and importance of the role the Congress plays in the government of our nation.
How can the U.S. fight wars when Congress doesn't declare one first? How many times has Congress declared war?
Congress has officially declared war 5 times: [1] The War of 1812; [2] The Mexican War, 1846; [3] The Spanish-American War, 1898; [4] World War I; [5] World War II.
There is a distinction between Congress officially declaring war on another nation, under Article 1, section 8 of our Constitution and the other option: when Congress passes what is known as a "war powers resolution," which grants the President the authority to commit armed forces in combat.
The war powers option is controversial because some Presidents have felt that they already have that authority on their own and don't wait for a resolution to be passed by Congress first. Article 2, section 2 of the Constitution names the President as Commander-in-Chief, with control over the armed forces. Citing this authority, Presidents have sometimes used force without waiting for Congress to act. For example, the Korean War was begun by President Truman without any congressional sanction. In the Persian Gulf War, troops were already on the ground when Congress passed a resolution in 1991 sanctioning the use of force.
In the current Iraqi conflict, President Bush asked Congress first for the authority to commit troops. Congress passed a resolution in October, 2002 authorizing President Bush to use armed forces in Iraq in order to "enforce all relevant U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq." [P.L.107-243]. That resolution passed the House 296-133. It passed the Senate 77-23.
What also confuses the issue is that major armed conflicts become known as "wars"; however, officially they are so only if Congress passes a declaration of war. For example, war was never declared against Vietnam, but the Vietnam War, as it is called, did have congressional endorsement [initially] with passage of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964. Congress repealed that Resolution in 1971.
What role does Congress play in a contested presidential election? Has it ever had to elect a President or Vice President?
The U.S. Congress has two roles to perform in the case of a contested presidential election: (1) to officially count the ballots and announce the results of the Electoral College votes for President and Vice President, and (2) to elect the President and Vice President if the Electoral College fails to do so.
If a majority does not materialize in support of one candidate, the House and Senate, pursuant to the Constitution, are to proceed immediately to an election for president and vice president, known formally as a "Contingent Election."
In a Contingent Election, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution states the House of Representatives shall choose the President, by ballot. It further states that the U.S. Senate shall elect the Vice President. The House has elected a President twice. In 1801, the House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson, after 36 rounds of balloting. In 1825, it elected John Quincy Adams, after one round of balloting.
The Senate has elected one vice president in U.S. history. It elected Richard Mentor Johnson to be Vice President in 1837. He was President Martin Van Buren's Vice President.
What is the process for amending the Constitution?
Debating proposals to amend the Constitution is one thing; however actually amending it is another. Since 1789, over 10,000 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed in Congress. Of those, only 33 were sent to the states for ratification, and only 27 were ultimately ratified.
Examples of prominent amendments in recent years which received much congressional attention but failed to survive the process include the Flag Desecration Amendment, the Balanced Budget Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, a Term Limits Amendment, and a School Prayer Amendment.
George Washington has been quoted as saying the Constitution was an imperfect product, made more perfect by the ability to amend it. The Founding Fathers anticipated that changes to the Constitution would be necessary with changing times and established a process for amending it in Article V of that document. Article V provides for changing the Constitution either through an act of Congress or through a national constitutional convention. All 27 amendments to the Constitution to date were completed through congressional enactments.
Any Member of Congress may propose to amend the Constitution by introducing a joint resolution. The legislation is treated like any other in terms of committee consideration, floor scheduling and debate. Passage, however, requires a 2/3 vote in each chamber. If all were present that would mean 290 out of 435 Members of the House and 67 out of 100 Senators. These super-majorities are difficult to obtain. Once passed, the proposed amendment is not sent to the President. Instead, it is sent to the states. Three-fourths — or 38 — of the states must ratify the proposed amendment. They do so either by vote of the state legislature or by a state ratifying convention. Only one amendment — the 21st — was ratified using the convention method.
In earlier years, no deadline was imposed for an amendment to wind its way through the states. For example, the 27th amendment was proposed in 1789 and only ratified in 1992, 203 years later!
In recent years, however, Congress has included a deadline for ratification within the text of a proposed amendment — seven years has been the usual time frame imposed. Within that period, if 38 states do not ratify the amendment, it fails. In the case of the failed Equal Rights Amendment, its original deadline was extended from 1979 to 1982, but even with that unusual extension, a sufficient number of states failed to ratify the amendment.
The following amendments were added to the Constitution in the twentieth century:
- XVI: Establishment of an income tax (1913)
- XVII: Direct election of Senators (1913)
- XVIII: Prohibition (1919)
- XIX: Women's right to vote (1920)
- XX: Defines presidential and congressional terms and presidential succession (1933)
- XXI: Repeal of Prohibition (1933)
- XXII: Presidential term limit (1951)
- XXIII: District of Columbia residents right to vote (1961)
- XXIV: Abolishes poll taxes (1964)
- XXV: Presidential incapacitation; vice-presidential vacancy (1967)
- XXVI: Voting age lowered to 18 (1971)
- XXVII: Prohibits midterm pay raises for Congress (1992)
When a President makes "recess appointments," how do these work? Don't they go against the confirmation powers of the Senate?
No, both are found in the Constitution in Article II, section 2. Clause 2 gives the Senate the power to advise and consent to nominations, while Clause 3 says:
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
This enables the President to make an appointment during a Senate recess that would otherwise require the advise and consent of the Senate, including cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, federal judges, directors of federal agencies, and members of federal boards and commissions — even Supreme Court Justices. Since 1791, 15 Supreme Court Justices began their tenure with a recess appointment, the most recent being Justice Potter Stewart in 1958.
President George W. Bush made 113 recess appointments from January 2001 through April 2005. President Clinton made 140 recess appointments in his two terms. The first President Bush made 77 recess appointments during his 4 year tenure. In 8 years as President, Ronald Reagan made 240 such appointments. President Carter made 68 recess appointments during his 4 years in office.
Any recess appointment the President makes during the first session of a Congress will last until the end of its second session [each Congress is split into two sessions of approximately one year each]. Recess appointments made in the second session of a Congress would expire at the end of the first session of the next Congress. Once this time period has expired, an official would have to receive formal confirmation from the Senate in order to remain in office.
The original purpose behind granting the President the power of recess appointments was to get around a practical problem. At the time the Constitution was written, it was expected that Congress would have short sessions and long periods of adjournment. Sessions were sometimes delayed because difficult travel conditions meant waiting a long time for enough Senators to arrive to assemble a quorum. The power given the President to make recess appointments was granted so that he wouldn't be without top officials of government for long periods while waiting for the Senate to assemble.
Today, Congress meets for longer periods throughout the year, with shorter recesses. The motivation for recess appointments is rarely scheduling concerns any longer. Recess appointments are now more often made to circumvent the Senate confirmation process. However, Presidents have to balance the political advantages of appointing individuals the Senate has not acted upon, with the risks of alienating the Senate when it comes to future appointments.
All modern Presidents have made recess appointments both during the shorter breaks within a session of Congress as well as during the longer recess between the two sessions. Senate leaders have frequently complained about the appointments made during short intra-session recesses. Some have threatened to litigate the matter to the Supreme Court, but none have yet done that. A federal appeals court did rule in 1962 that the President had broad authority to make recess appointment decisions [U.S. vs. Alloco].
A good resource to learn more about recess appointments is the Congressional Research Service Report, "Recess Appointments: Frequently Asked Questions," which can be viewed on-line at: http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS21308.pdf