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Article 1: The Legislative BranchArticle 2: The Executive BranchArticle 3: The Judicial Branch
The House of Representatives
Each state has a number of representatives based on population
2 year term At least 25 years old U. S. citizen for 7
years Only group allowed to
impeach No term limits
The Senate Each state has 2
Senators 6 year term At least 30 years old U. S. citizen for 9 years Presides over
impeachment trials Approves Presidential
appointments No term limits
To impose taxesTo borrow money for the United StatesTo regulate tradeTo declare warTo decide how to spend moneyTo make lawsTo coin moneySuspend habeas corpus (right to be told
why you are being imprisoned) in times of war
Page 227-228 in your book
Most of work in Congress is done in committees
This is where a bill really startsSome Congressional Committees are
Transportation, Defense, Taxation, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Science
President and Vice PresidentMust be a natural born citizenMust be 35 years oldLived within the United States for the last 14
years2 term limit (4 years each)
Framers intended Congress to be the most powerful branch of the government
As a result the Constitution offers few details about the powers of the President
Presidents have often handled this lack of detail by taking actions they believed were necessary in doing their job
Once a President committed one of the acts it became ok for following Presidents to do the same
Called setting a precedentEx. Washington’s Cabinet
Commander and chief of the armed forcesMaking treaties and nominationsTemporary appointmentsThe President may veto a bill
Give a “State of the Union” address to Congress once a year
He shall receive foreign ambassadors and other public ministers
Enforce the laws Negotiate treaties with foreign nations
The President is elected by the Electoral College, not the votes of each individual citizen
Each state has the same # of electoral votes as they do representatives
The electoral votes in each state should follow the popular vote (majority). For example, if the majority of Illinois voted for President Obama, then all the electoral votes for Illinois should go to President Obama.
Consists of the Supreme Court and other, lesser federal courts
Duty is to interpret the lawsCan declare laws unconstitutionalCan declare executive actions (actions
done by the President or Vice President) unconstitutional
Once appointed Supreme Court Justices cannot be removed from office unless they break the law
Most federal cases begin in district courtsIf a party disagrees with a decision made in a
district court they may appeal the decisionThe case then goes to the Appellate or Court
of AppealCourt cases can be filed under federal or
state jurisdictions.Most trials are filed under state jurisdictions
b/c they involve state laws.
The Chief Justice and 8 Associate JusticesNo term; serve until retirement or deathSupreme Court Justices can be impeachedNation’s final court of appealMajority Vote decides casesMajority Opinion: document that explains
Constitutional reasons for decisionsMinority Opinions: optional but may be
submitted by dissenting justice given reason why they disagree
Established in 1803 in Marbury vs. MadisonDeclare acts of the President or laws created
by Congress to be UnconstitutionalNot allowed under the Constitution
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