Separation of Powers 2

Question 1

Article I, Section 1

Answer 1

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the US, which shall consist a Senate and a House of Rep.

Question 2

Seperation of Powers Doctrine

Answer 2

Under the doctrine of the Separation of Powers, the lawmaking branch (the leg) cannot enforce the law. Similarly, the enforcement branch (the exec) cannot exercise law-making (legislative) powers.

Question 3

The non-Delegation Doctrine

Answer 3

The non-delegation doctrine prohibits the Congress from giving its legislative power to other branches of government in order to maintain separation of powers.

Question 4

How bills become laws

Answer 4

1. Bicameralism: bill must pass both houses of Congress [to prevent legislative despotism]
2. Presentment: the passed bill must be presented to the Prez for signature. This prevents the leg. from attempting to circumvent the Prez in passing laws.

Question 5

Things explicitly in the Con. that Cong. may do alone w/ unreviewable force of law and not subject to Prez veto

Answer 5

1. Only the House of Rep. may initiate impeachment proceedings
2. Only the Senate may try impeachments
3. Only the Senate may review and approve prez appointments
4. Only the Senate may ratify treaties

Question 6

Why are there federal regulations?

Answer 6

1. Congress may delegate ability to interpret law to executive branch, and may grant agencies with power to create regulations that interpret laws passed by Congress
2. When a statute passed by Congress delegates interpretive power to executive agencies, statute contains intelligible principle

Question 7

Define intelligible principle

Answer 7

This principle dictates the boundaries within which the executive agency may regulate in order to keep lawmaking power with Congress. Executive agencies may not regulate outside boundaries of intelligible principle laid out in statutes passed by Congress.

Question 8

What does INS v. Chadha stand for?

Answer 8

The proposition that legislative vetoes violate the separation of powers

Question 9

For an issue to be a political question:

Answer 9

Does the issue implicate the separation of powers?
Does the Constitution commit resolution of this issue to either the President or Congress?–if there is another branch of government which has final constitutional authority over the matter, the Court will not take it up

Question 10

Three levels of domestic Presidential power (Youngstown categories per Justice Jackson):

Answer 10

1. Maximum authority
2. Zone of twilight
3. Lowest ebb

Question 11

Define maximum authority

Answer 11

The president acts pursuant to express or implied authorization from Congress. The President is given the widest latitude of judicial interpretation, and the strongest presumptions are given to a president acting pursuant to an Act of Congress. Challenges to presidential actions have a heavy burden of persuasion.

Question 12

Define zone of twilight

Answer 12

President acting in congressional silence. The President is acting alone either in the absence of congressional grant of power, or absence of a denial of power; President relies only on independent powers. Essentially Article II powers, where Congress is silent and has not prohibited an action or granted the power to take the action (i.e., created a mechanism).

Question 13

Define lowest ebb

Answer 13

President takes measure incompatible with expressed or implied will of Congress. Presidential power is at its lowest, because President can only rely on Constitutional powers in Article II, minus the Constitutional powers of Congress. Courts can only sustain the presidential action by disabling Congress from acting. Courts scrutinize president’s action carefully, as Congressional denial of a presidential action doesn’t necessarily mean president doesn’t have the power.