TH
12 Government
Chapter 6 notes
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Daily Lecture Notes 46
6-1
DID YOU KNOW:
Congress sometimes exercises more than one of its powers at the
same time. In 1993 after several months of heated debate, the Senate
approved the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This
treaty with Canada and Mexico ended trade barriers between those
nations and the United States. In approving NAFTA, the Senate was
carrying out its treaty power in foreign affairs as well as its power to
regulate foreign commerce.
I. Constitutional Provisions (pages 157–158)
A. The “necessary and proper” clause of the Constitution enables Congress
to expand its power.
B. Conflicting interpretations of the elastic clause are reflected in Supreme
Court rulings on the power of Congress.
C. The powers of Congress are limited by the Bill of Rights and the
Constitution.
II. Legislative Powers (pages 158–163)
A. The power to levy taxes and appropriate money is one of Congress’s most
important powers.
B. Congress has the power to borrow money, to coin money, and to make laws
regarding bankruptcy.
C. Congress has the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce.
D. Congress has important powers in foreign policy and national defense, such
as the power to approve treaties, to declare war, and to create and maintain
an army and a navy.
6-1
II. Legislative Powers (pages 158–163, continued)
E. Congress has power over naturalization of citizens and the admission
of new states to the Union.
F. Congress has the power to grant copyrights and patents and the power
to establish federal courts and a post office.
III. Nonlegislative Powers (pages 163–165)
A. If no presidential candidate has a majority of the electoral votes, the
House of Representatives chooses the president from the top three
candidates; if no vice presidential candidate has an electoral vote majority,
the Senate chooses the vice president from the top two candidates.
B. Congress has the power to settle problems arising from the death
of candidates or the president’s incapacity or resignation.
C. Congress has the power to remove officials of the executive or judicial
branches from office by the process of impeachment.
D. The Senate has the power to approve officials appointed by the president.
E. The Senate ratifies treaties between the United States and other nations.
F. Congress shares with state legislatures the power to propose and ratify
constitutional amendments.
6-2
DID YOU KNOW:
Both houses of Congress sometimes investigate the same thing at the
same time. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held hearings
for several months in 1997 to investigate President Clinton’s
campaign finances in the 1996 election. At the same time, the House
Government Oversight Committee conducted its own investigation
into fund-raising by the president and the Democratic National
Committee in that same election.
I. The Power to Investigate (pages 167–169)
A. Standing committees or select committees of Congress investigate the
conduct and ethics of government officials and members of Congress.
B. Investigations have a variety of consequences that range from proposing new
legislation to removing officials from office.
C. Congressional investigations collect evidence, subpoena witnesses, and grant
witnesses immunity, but they are not trials.
II. Legislative Oversight (pages 169–171)
A. Congress uses the power of legislative oversight to weigh how well the
executive branch carries out the laws enacted by Congress.
B. The Legislative Reorganization Acts of 1946 and 1970 require Congress to
review and study, on a continuing basis, how the laws under its responsibility
are administered, applied, and executed.
C. Realistically, however, Congress cannot effectively monitor every action of
the executive branch; it does not have enough staff, time, or money to do so.
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II. Legislative Oversight (pages 169–171, continued)
D. Congress uses its legislative oversight to require executive agencies to submit
reports on their activities, to review those agencies’ budgets, and to direct
the GAO and Congress’s other support agencies to monitor the executive
agencies’ finances.
E. When Congress suspects wrongdoing, special investigations or even the
threat of such investigations act as a strong deterrent to defying the intent
of Congress.
Daily Lecture Notes 50
6-3
DID YOU KNOW:
The Watergate scandal in 1973 marked the end of a long, bitter
struggle between Congress and the president. By then, relations
between a Republican president and a Democratic-controlled
Congress were seriously strained. President Nixon had refused to
spend funds appropriated by Congress to carry out its programs.
But when Congress passed bills to end this practice, Nixon vetoed
them. Angry members of Congress charged that Nixon had
established an “imperial presidency.”
I. Cooperation and Conflict (pages 172–174)
A. The members of Congress represent local, more narrow interests than
the president, and therefore their ideas often differ from the president’s.
B. The Constitution’s system of checks and balances may cause conflicts
between the legislative and the executive branches.
C. Partisan differences can affect relations between Congress and the president.
D. The organization of Congress and its procedures may cause conflicts with
the president.
E. Members of Congress often serve in government longer than any president
and may resist the president’s timetable for enacting laws.
II. The Struggle for Power (pages 174–176)
A. Throughout the nation’s history, the balance of power has shifted back
and forth between Congress and the president.
B. Congress can limit or end the emergency powers it has granted the president.
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II. The Struggle for Power (pages 174–176, continued)
C. Congress has reduced the president’s power in planning the budget
and spending money that Congress has appropriated.
D. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
established permanent budget committees for each house, created the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and limited the president’s ability
to impound funds.
E. The Congressional Budget Office provides financial experts to help Congress
increase its role in planning the budget.
F. Congress no longer uses the legislative veto but still seeks to ensure that
the president carries out its intent in executing laws.
G. In 1996 Congress authorized the line-item veto for the president to veto
specific spending items in appropriation bills. In 1998 the Supreme Court
declared the line-item veto to be unconstitutional.