2.2.3 - Congressional Oversight and Scrutiny Flashcards
What is oversight?
Come to be seen as an implied power - Congressional review of and investigation into the activities of the executive branch of gov
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Party control
Congressional oversight of the executive is only really effective when Congress is not controlled by the Pres’ party - almost all modern-day examples of the Senate rejecting Presidential appointments have come when the two parties are different EG 1987 Dem Senate that rejected Reagan’s SC nominee Robert Bork
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Party polarisation
Party polarisation has seen the parties grow further and further apart since the 1980s - this often causes a strain between parties and Pres - only exacerbated in divided gov - however some bipartisanship is still possible - EG 2012 Jobs Act, and 2020 CARES Act
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Policy area
Domestic policy is much more contested between Congress and Pres than foreign policy - EG Obama executive deal to pass the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 and Trump abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018 - however Congress more powerful over domestic policy EG Obama couldn’t pass legislation on gun control and immigration and Trump couldn’t pass legislation repealing Obamacare
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Election cycle
During an election cycle Congress is more likely to prioritise constituency than administration especially if the Pres is leaving office or unpopular - EG Congress overriding Obama’s veto of the Justice Against the Sponsors of Terrorism Bill in 2016 - Congress members didn’t want to appear soft on terrorism two weeks before an election
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Presidential approval ratings
A popular president is hard to defeat or challenge - EG Bush in 2001 with 90% popularity was able to pass the Patriot Act 2001 to kick start the war on terror - however a president with a low approval rating is easy to challenge EG Trump averaging 41% approval during his term and being frustrated over policies on tax reform, immigration, and healthcare
Factors affecting the relationship between Pres and Congress - Congressional approval ratings
Congressional approval ratings also important for oversight - Congress is seen very negatively in the eyes of the public, especially in recent years - EG through the most difficult period of Trump’s presidency while he had a popularity of 41%, Congress had a popularity rating of just 18% - in such a case it was difficult for members of Congress to appear more legitimate than Trump
Checks on the Pres by Congress - Standing committees
Standing committees are in both chambers and are made up of policy experts - a typical Senate standing committee has 18 members while a typical House standing committee has 30-40 members - membership is based on party representation - they conduct the committee stage of a bill, conduct investigations into their policy area - they also begin the process of confirming Pres appointments (the Judicial and Foreign Relations Committees particularly)
Checks on the Pres by Congress - Impeachment
Congress has only impeached three Preses in history - Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1997, and Trump in 2019 and 2021 - critics argue failure to convict shows weakness - supporters argue it has worked as intended and that the Nixon debacle (resigned before he could be convicted) shows it is an effective power)
Checks on the judiciary by Congress - Impeachment
Similar to impeachment of the Pres, Congress has the power to impeach members of the judiciary by putting SC judges on trial - this has only been done once in history in 1804 - however more recently Thomas Porteous resigned rather than facing an impeachment trial (similar to Nixon) in 2010 on charges of accepting bribes and making false statements under penalty of perjury
Assessing Congress’ effectiveness in its oversight of the executive
The general consensus is that Congress is not the most effective in its oversight of the executive - Pres can veto laws EG Trump vetoing the War Powers Resolution Act in 2020 and sign executive orders with foreign nations to circumvent Congress EG Obama signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan to Action with Iran in 2015 - Congress has also been criticised for its unsuccessful attempts at impeachment especially since after resigning Nixon was given a presidential pardon by Ford - however when delving a bit deeper Clinton and Trump were both acquitted by Senates controlled by their own party when some argue these impeachments were politically motivated to begin with
Assessing Congress’ effectiveness in its oversight of the judiciary
Similar to Congress’ effectiveness in its oversight of the executive, its oversight of the judiciary is limited - while the Constitution does grant Congress the power to pass an amendment to overturn an SC decision, the practicality of this is pretty much non-existent making it an ineffective check on the judiciary - the SC’s interpretation of the Constitution is controversial - EG the Defence of the Marriage Act of 1996 being struck down by two SC rulings - United Sates v Windsor 2013 and Obergefell v Hodges 2015 which effectively legalised same-sex marriage - Congress does also possess the power to change the size of the court, but this is a power it has been very reluctant to use so far (tho Pres Biden has promised to set up an independent committee to see whether this is viable) - impeachments of judicial officials are rare but effective EG Thomas Porteous 2010
