Part I of a multi-part series explaining the branches of the United States government.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
101.1 — Article I: Legislative Branch of Government
The first branch of the coequal branch of the United States Government is Congress, the Legislative Branch. Congress consists of the Senate (two senators from each state, elected every six years) and the House of Representatives. The number of representatives from each state is determined by counting the population during a census every 10 years. These elected officials must answer to the electorate every two years and are often referred to as the “people’s house.”
This is the first reference of emoluments in the Constitution that prohibits any government official from taking something of value from a foreign leader or country without the approval of Congress.
The 10 sections to this article lay out the oversight duties of the legislature, to “advise and consent” with the executive branch for nominees to various positions.
This branch of government is where the laws and the budgets are written. If a bill passes both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it then goes to the executive branch for the president to sign or veto. If the president fails, or refuses, to sign the legislation, after 10 days (except Sunday), it becomes law. If the bill is returned to Congress after being vetoed, a presidential veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote by both houses of government.
Only Congress can determine how money is spent. In fact, the Constitution states, “The Congress shall have power to … collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”
Also part of Congress’ responsibility is the decision whether to raise the debt ceiling, along with the task of regulating the value of the currency and establishing post offices.
The United States Senate has the sole power to conduct an impeachment trial of any governmental official, after impeachment articles are sent over from the House. Those officials who can be impeached include; Supreme Court Justices, federal judges, the vice president or a president of the United States. The constitution also says the chief justice of the Supreme Court shall preside over any impeachment trial in the Senate. Removal from office must be by a two-thirds vote of Senators.
The constitution specifically says that if an individual is impeached and removed from office, he can still be indicted and tried by a jury. However the constitution is silent on whether a current officeholder can be indicted while holding an elected office. A Department of Justice policy, written during the Watergate Era and confirmed in 2000, sets out the concept to not indict a president while they are in office, although there is no law that expressly forbids it.
In the history of the United States up to the present day (current impeachment excepted), the House of Representatives has held 19 impeachment hearings; beginning July 7, 1797, and the most recent in 2010. There have been 13 district judges, two associate judges of the Supreme Court, two presidents, one secretary of war and one Senator impeached. Of the 19, seven were acquitted, eight were found guilty and removed from office, three resigned before impeachment hearings could be held, and the charges against the Senator was dismissed. Instead, he was barred from ever holding public office again, because he conspired to assist in Great Britain’s attempt to seize Spanish-controlled territories.
Impeachment charges have ranged from intoxication on the bench and unlawful handling of property claims, to charges of abuse of power, to income tax evasion, lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice.
The most famous historical impeachment, that of Richard M. Nixon, occured in 1974. The House of Representatives passed three Articles of Impeachment: one for Obstruction of Justice, one for Abuse of Power, and one for Contempt of Congress. Two other articles for the bombing of Cambodia (without notifying Congress) and failure to pay taxes did not pass the House Judiciary Committee. Nixon resigned before the senate trial, because members of his own political party told him that they did not h ave the votes to block his removal from office.
One final responsibility lies with Congress. Back in the 1700s, the Founding Fathers did not envision massive armies marching across the globe. Instead, they envisioned the country being defended by its citizens and gave Congress the power to “organize, arm and discipline a well-regulated militia.” Congress also has the power to “to call forth the militia” (including a navy) to enforce the laws of the land and “suppress insurrections and repel invasions.”
Next time: Article II — the Executive Branch.
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