Role

1
Role of Congress
2
Overview

• Constitutional Powers, Roles/Duties of the U.S.
  Congress
• War Powers Resolution Act
• Congressional oversight

3
Constitutional Powers

• Powers to assess and collect taxes--called the
  chief power
• to regulate commerce, both interstate and foreign
• to coin money
• to establish post offices and post roads
• to establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court

4
Constitutional Powers

• to declare war
• to raise and maintain an army and navy
• To provide for calling forth the Militia to
  execute the Laws of the Union, suppress
  Insurrections and repel Invasions''
• To 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.''

5
Constitutional Roles And Duties

• Senate was given advise and consent power by the
  U.S. Constitution
• Responsible for ratifying treaties negotiated by
  the President with foreign countries
• Approves the President's nominees for such
  high-level federal positions as cabinet officers,
  ambassadors, and federal judges

6
Constitutional Roles And Duties

• In constitutional theory, running so frequently
  for re-election is believed to allow
  Representatives to come to know their
  constituencies well
• This enables House Members to accurately reflect
  the views of the local citizenry and better
  advocate the needs of each district
• Members of the House are also likely to be more
  sensitive to changes in popular sentiment

7
Constitutional Roles And Duties

• The House was given the authority to originate
  all revenue bills and over the years, tradition
  has extended this power of origination to
  spending bills as well
• Sets the framework for the important questions of
  collecting taxes and raising money for the U.S.
  treasury and then distributing it through
  legislative appropriations

8
War Powers Resolution Act

• Passed in 1973
• Can only deploy troops under
• declaration of war
• statuary authorization
• national emergency
• Report to Congress within 48 hours of deployment
• Report status periodically to Congress

9
War Powers Resolution Act

• Limit of 60 days without declaration of war (with
  a 30 day extension for troop withdrawal)
• Keep President from getting US troops into war
  without clear resolution
• Reassert the war powers of Congress under Article
  I of Constitution

10
Presidential Compliance to WPRA

• Never officially recognized
• Ford
• Reagan
• Bush
• Consequences for Forcing Compliance
• If found unconstitutional, Congress powerless to
  limit presidential initiatives/adventurism
• If upheld in court, presidents would have to
  fully comply with WPRA

11
Other Congressional Oversight

• Periodic Reports
• Executive branch reports to Congress every 12, 6,
  or 3 months
• Notification (most frequent)
• i.e. Arms sales, foreign assistance
• One-Time Report (least frequent)
• Committees
• i.e. House Foreign Relations Committee
• The ULTIMATE OVERSIGHT

12
Summary

• Constitutional Powers, Roles/Duties of the U.S.
  Congress
• War Powers Resolution Act
• Congressional oversight