Branches of the Federal Government

The founding fathers designed the federal government in the Constitution, hoping it would set an example for democracy and the new world, as it denied any single person absolute power to rule over the American people. The federal government cannot rule the American people, but it can govern and protect them in line with the United States Constitution. The federal government was unique in its establishment and was different from the government structure of its colonizers and the structure of most monarchical European countries. The founding fathers designed the federal government to unite the different states under shared governance and protection because each state had its own distinct government with its own military, which made the United States politically and militarily weak (Clinton, p. 891). This paper will discuss the three branches of the federal government, their powers, functions, and limitations.

Part I

The U.S. government's lawmaking institution is Congress. It is the legislative body responsible for enacting the laws of the country. The authors of the Constitution, who laid the foundation for forming the U.S., gave most powers in Article I of the Constitution to the legislative branch. They aimed to transform the states into stronger units and make them more powerful than individual states in terms of state affairs. The legislative form of the nation, Congress, was given exact roles and responsibilities according to its strong points and weaknesses, as stated in Article I of the United States Constitution (The White House). Legislating is the core function of the Legislature, which is mainly responsible for formulating legal frameworks that regulate and govern the country. The Legislature's lawmaking process involves several steps that begin on the floor of the House and end with the president's signature and approval. Writing a law can be done by any American citizen, but introducing the bill to the House is reserved only for members.

The first step consists of introducing the bill to the House, which members of the House do. The bill's introduction is followed by sending the bill to the appropriate committees in the House for review. A review of the bill is a crucial step in making laws because it is during this step that the proposed law's importance is questioned by committee members and then released. If released, the bill is then tabled to the floor of the House for voting, Amendment, and debate (The White House). If the House passes the bill, it is presented to the Senate, and a similar process of committee review, voting, and debating over the bill is followed. Upon agreement and majority vote by the Senate, the bill is passed to the President, who then approves and signs the bill into law. If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, it is returned to the House, and a bill can only pass when both Houses vote a majority for the bill (The White House). Anytime now, the President will do their veto on the bill, it goes back to Congress with a quarter of the votes in favor of the bill greater than the President's veto, and that makes it a law.

The other function of Congress outlined in the Constitution is establishing an annual budget for the government. This is done through taxation and tariffs, which help the government collect revenue. Congress can lay and collect taxes and duties to help raise valuable government revenue to plan for an annual budget (The White House). When Congress cannot fully finance its budget, Congress has the power to borrow money to help fund a budget. Congress is tasked with borrowing money from foreign lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other countries while also checking the country's debt ceiling and borrowing in strength to the United States' ability to collect revenue (The White House). Congress regulates the debt ceiling to ensure that the country's debts do not burden the Treasury. In addition to borrowing money, Congress is responsible for paying all federal debts. It is obliged to pay all debts as stipulated in the Constitution.

Congress also provides for a common defense and is responsible for declaring war on behalf of the United States. Before Congress had the mandate of providing a common defense for the nation, each state had its own military, which it controlled. This made the United States weak and vulnerable to attack because it was challenging to organize the different armies into one. This was one weakness associated with the Articles of Confederation, which the Constitution corrected by granting Congress the sole responsibility of providing common defense and rejecting state militaries (Clinton 891). Congress is tasked with governing, funding, and overseeing military activities while offering land to the military (The White House). Congress can also declare war when internal and external powers threaten the United States. Internal forces can represent civil wars and internal terrorist attacks, while external forces include war against other countries and regions that threaten the peace and prosperity of the United States. The armed forces and war responsibility are distributed with the presidency, as they are the governing body responsible for the armed forces.

Congress consists of two Congressional Houses, which are the House of Representatives and the Senate. A speaker heads the House of Representatives and is the third position in the line of succession of former United States presidents in case of a president's death or impeachment. The head of the Senate is the Vice President, and he/she belongs to the Executive Branch of Government. Though the House of Representatives and the Senate are similar in terms of committee organization and jurisdiction, each has different responsibilities and is constituted differently. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members with a two-year term and 23 House committees, which have a total of 104 subcommittees (The White House). The structure of the House requires that its members, who should be 25 or more years old, must be U.S. citizens for at least seven years. This unique responsibility of the House is to carry out the duty of electing the U.S. president by having a tie in the electoral college in the White House. The Senate consists of 100 elected senators from each state, and they serve for six years. It has Senate Committees of 17 and 70 Subcommittees; however, one can be elected as a senator only when they are 30 years old.

Part II

The executive branch (the government) implements and enforces laws (policies or rules) that the legislator makes and which the judiciary interprets (understands and gives opinions). The President heads the executive branch, which is a common thing in many Western countries. The role of the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces comes with a four-year term, which is a. two terms can be run. In an attempt to prevent someone from taking an unconstitutional third term, the two-year limit was provided for in the 22nd Amendment in the year 1951. The only person who had the opportunity to spend more than two terms in office was the President, who we remember as the great-grandfather, who served three times for the whole term and died in the fourth term. Under the requirements of the United States Presidency, the candidate must be 35 years or older, have natural United States citizenship, and have been a U.S. resident for the last fourteen years (The White House). The Americans and the Electoral College cast their ballot, and currently, the 46th president of the U.S., Joe Biden, is the 46th president (POTUS) to take office at the moment of the country's independence from Britain.

The president is obligated to report to Congress on the state of the country. In this way, Congress can conduct its duty of oversight by requesting hearings from the executive. The United States president has limited power compared to presidents in other countries who have absolute power. The Constitution limits the President's powers with the founding fathers' wishes of creating a liberated country where no one individual had unlimited powers like that of the monarch they had freed themselves from. Congress helps keep the President in check and ensures they do not abuse their power. The President can also grant prisoners pardons and make appointments with Congress's approval (The White House). The President also signs bills passed by Congress into law or vetoes them. This shows how the legislative and executive branches work closely to govern the people.

The executive also consists of the vice president, who is elected together with the President and is the second in line of succession to the presidency in case the President is impeached, resigns, or dies. He is also the leader of the Senate and can only vote in Senate matters when there is a tie. The requirements for a United States vice president are the same as those for the President. The vice president's constitutional role is to succeed the President in case of death or any other condition that may see the President unfit to serve the country, and the role of the Senate's President (The White House). His other functions are not outlined in the Constitution but are to help the sitting president carry out their executive duties upon request by the President. Vice presidents also act as advisors to the President and may stand in for the President in public functions that the President cannot attend.

Executive power is held by the third organ of the government, which is the cabinet. The cabinet, though, is not explicitly implicated in the Constitution as to that of the executive. As an American president, the leader has the power to make appointments to the U.S. government with the Senate's approval. The cabinet is composed of the vice president, the CIA director, the heads of 15 executive departments (secretariats), the title of chief of staff, the ambassador to the U.N., and the director of national intelligence. The chief of staff is fourth in the line of presidential succession after the vice president and the speaker. The Cabinet acts as a close confidant to the United States president and advises them on matters of governance and issues about the different departments they head. The cabinet is also responsible for the departments it runs and is eligible for Congress to question the performance of those departments.

Part III

The court system in the U.S., affectionately known as the Supreme Court, is the governmental branch of the U.S. set up to ensure equal and fair trials for all, irrespective of the law under question. The principal function of this branch of the federal government, even though it has the least amount of political power, is, as postulated by the Constitution, to interpret regulations. Another function is checking how the laws establish conflict between the state and the federal government, and if they are valid as per the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court is the head court in the territory. Its decision is final and cannot be reversed or appealed by another court.

On the other hand, among the other courts of the judiciary, we count the district and circuit courts. It is adapted to be the Court's major appearance, with the chief justice leading the other eight associate justices present. While the Chief Justice presides over the judicial branch as the head of the Supreme Court, the President nominates, and the Senate confirms the appointment (White House). It is the role of the Supreme Court not only to direct all other courts in the country but also to determine which power is vested in the federal government to the extent that it does not violate the Constitution. The lower Court is under the Supreme Court's interpretation index.

The Supreme Court shall be the federal judiciary that reviews state cases and laws according to the Constitution and provides advisory services on legal matters. The Supreme Court decides if the law is constitutional and sanctions if it is, according to the Constitution, and what its scope is. The Supreme Court, apart from the Article III judicial power, has judicial review power, which is used to restrain other arms of the government to comply with the Constitution (U.S. Courts). The Supreme Court can declare whether a legislative or executive act violated the Constitution. It has original jurisdiction over matters of constitutional violation (The White House). This prevents the other arms of government from abusing power while in office. It ensures that each arm is aware of its limits by the Constitution. The Supreme Court also solves cases that the lower courts still need to solve, as it holds both original and appellate jurisdiction. It also resolves issues not in state jurisdictions, like conflicts between two states.

However, the judiciary's powers are limited because the Legislature can make, amend, and change laws, which means that the judiciary only interprets and cannot influence lawmaking. If Congress is not satisfied with the judiciary's interpretation, it can change the law. Unlike the judiciary in other countries, the United States Constitution does not give the judge absolute power to the judge but provides for trial by a jury of peers. This means that judges do not determine whether a person is guilty, but the status is determined by a jury vote, which provides checks and balances for the judiciary. The Constitution also gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in some matters, like disputes between states, which Congress cannot overturn.

Conclusion

The United States' Constitution makes it evident that the arms of government work together to govern and protect the sovereignty of the citizens and not rule over them. The founding fathers adopted the separation of powers to distribute duties across the branches of government and deny any single body or branch absolute power over the people and other branches of government. I have learned that no single government unit is independent of the others, and constant interaction and oversight happen occasionally. However, the legislative arm of the government is the most influential and powerful, with the power to override the decisions of the other arms of government.