The
Federal Government of the United States is the
central government entity established by
the United States
Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States
with the government of the
individual U.S. states. The
federal government has three branches: the
legislative,
executive, and
judicial. Through a system of
separation
of powers and the system of "checks and balances," each of
these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority
to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own
authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches. The
policies of the federal
government have a broad impact on both the domestic and foreign
affairs of the United States. In addition, the powers of the
federal government as a whole are limited by the Constitution,
which, per the
Tenth
Amendment, states that all powers not expressly assigned to the
federal government are reserved to the states or to the
people.
The
seat of the federal government is
in the federal district of Washington,
D.C.
Legislative branch
The
United States Congress is the
legislative branch of the federal government. It is
bicameral, comprising the
House of
Representatives and the
Senate. The House of Representatives
consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a
congressional district and serves for
a two-year term. In addition to the 435 voting members there are
five non-voting members, consisting of four delegates and one
resident commissioner.
There is
one delegate each from the District of Columbia
, Guam
, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa
, and the resident commissioner
is from Puerto Rico. House seats
are
apportioned among
the
state by
population; in contrast, each state has two
Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100
senators (as there are currently 50 states), who serve six-year
terms (one third of the Senate stands for election every two
years). Each congressional chamber (House or Senate) has particular
exclusive powers—the Senate must give "advice and consent" to many
important Presidential appointments, and the House must introduce
any bills for the purpose of raising revenue. The consent of both
chambers is required to pass any legislation, which then may only
become law by being signed by the President; if the President
vetoes such legislation, however, both houses of Congress must then
repass the legislation, but by a
two-thirds majority of each chamber, in order
to make such legislation law without the need for the President's
signature. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated
in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states
and the people. The Constitution also includes the "
Necessary and Proper Clause",
which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing
powers."
Members of the House and Senate are elected
by first-past-the-post
voting in every state except Louisiana
and Washington
, which have runoff.
The Constitution does not specifically call for the establishment
of
Congressional
committees. As the nation grew, however, so did the need for
investigating pending legislation more thoroughly.
The 108th Congress (2003-2005) had
19 standing committees in the House and 17 in the Senate, plus four
joint permanent committees with members from both houses overseeing
the Library of
Congress
, printing, taxation, and the economy. In
addition, each house can name special, or select, committees to
study specific problems. Because of an increase in workload, the
standing committees have also spawned some 150 subcommittees.
Powers of Congress
The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress.
Enumerated in Article
One, Section 8, these include the powers to levy and collect
taxes; to coin money and regulate its value;
provide for punishment for counterfeiting; establish post offices
and roads, promote progress of science by issuing patents, create
federal courts inferior to the Supreme
Court
, define and punish piracies
and felonies, declare war,
raise and support armies, provide and maintain a
navy, make rules for the
regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm, and
discipline the militia,
exercise exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia
, and to make laws necessary to properly execute
these powers.
Congressional oversight
Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste and fraud,
protect
civil liberties and
individual rights, ensure executive compliance with the law, gather
information for making laws and educating the public, and evaluate
executive performance.
It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory
commissions, and the presidency.Congress's oversight function takes
many forms:
- Committee inquiries and hearings
- Formal consultations with and reports from the President
- Senate advice and consent for presidential nominations and for
treaties
- House impeachment proceedings and
subsequent Senate trials
- House and Senate proceedings under the 25th
Amendment in the event that the President becomes disabled or
the office of the Vice President falls
vacant
- Informal meetings between legislators and executive
officials
- Congressional membership: each state is allocated a number of
seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in
the case of D.C.) in the House of Representatives. Each state is
allocated two Senators regardless of its population. At the present
time, the District of Columbia elects a non-voting representative
to the House of Representatives along with American Samoa, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Executive branch
The executive power in the federal government is vested in the
President of the United States, although power is often delegated
to the
Cabinet members and
other officials.
The President and Vice President are
elected as running mates for a
maximum of two
four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which
each state, as well as the District of
Columbia, is
allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or
ostensible representation, in the case of D.C.) in both houses of
Congress.
President
The executive branch consists of the President and delegates. The
President is both the
head of state
and
government, as well as the
military
commander-in-chief and
chief
diplomat. The President, according to
the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully
executed," and "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution."
The President presides over the executive branch of the federal
government, a vast organization numbering about 4 million people,
including 1 million active-duty military personnel. The
forty-fourth and current president is
Barack Obama
The President may sign legislation passed by Congress into law or
may
veto it, preventing it from
becoming law unless two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to
override the veto. The President may, with the consent of
two-thirds of the Senate, make
treaties with
foreign nations. The President may be
impeached by a majority in
the House and removed from office by a two-thirds majority in the
Senate for "
treason,
bribery, or other
high crimes and misdemeanors."
The President may not
dissolve
Congress or call
special election
but does have the power to
pardon, or
release, criminals convicted of offenses against the federal
government (except in cases of impeachment), enact
executive orders, and (with
the consent of the Senate) appoint Supreme Court justices and
federal judges.
Vice President
The Vice President is the second-highest executive official of the
government. As first in the
U.S. presidential
line of succession, the Vice President becomes President upon
the death, resignation, or removal of the President, which has
happened nine times in U.S. history. Under the Constitution, the
Vice President is
President of the
Senate. By virtue of the Vice President's role as President of
the Senate, he or she is the nominal head of the
United States Senate. In that capacity,
the Vice President is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when
necessary to
break a tied
vote. Pursuant to the
Twelfth
Amendment, the Vice President presides over the joint session
of
Congress when it convenes
to count the vote of the Electoral College. While the Vice
President's only constitutionally prescribed functions, aside from
presidential succession, relate to his role as President of the
Senate, the office is now commonly viewed as a member of the
executive branch of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution
does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing
scholars to dispute whether it belongs to the executive branch, the
legislative branch, or both.
Secretary of State
The
Secretary of State is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States
Department of State
, the most senior of all federal executive
departments concerned with foreign affairs. The
Secretary of State is the third-highest official of the
executive branch of the federal government
of the United States, after the President and Vice President. The
Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the
highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in
U.S. presidential
line of succession and
order of precedence. The
Secretary has many duties and responsibilities. The Secretary
serves as the President's chief adviser on U.S. foreign policy and
as such negotiates, interprets, and terminates treaties and
agreements, personally participates in or directs U.S.
representatives to international conferences, organizations, and
agencies, conducts negotiations relating to U.S. foreign affairs,
and is responsible for the administration and management of foreign
embassies and consulate offices. Foreign trade missions and
intelligence assets report directly to the Secretary of State. The
Secretary is also responsible for overall direction, coordination,
and supervision of interdepartmental activities of the
U.S. Government overseas. The
Secretary answers directly to the President of the United
States.
Relationship with Congress
The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects
that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the
framing of the United States Constitution. While the President can
directly propose legislation (for instance, the
federal budget), he must rely
on members of Congress to support and promote his legislative
agenda. After identical copies of a particular bill have been
approved by a majority of both houses of Congress, the President's
signature is required to make these bills law; in this respect, the
President has the power to veto congressional legislation. Congress
can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote
from both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President
is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through
a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote (by two-thirds
majority in favor). Nearly every president is threatened with the
idea of impeachment, but only two Presidents (
Andrew Johnson and
Bill Clinton) have ever been successfully
impeached, and neither was convicted by the Senate.
Richard Nixon was
not impeached in
connection with the
Watergate
scandal, although the
House Judiciary
Committee had approved
articles of impeachment against
Nixon at the time he resigned.
The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including
members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by
the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and
pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the
requirement to give a
State
of the Union Address to Congress from time to time (usually
once a year). (The Constitution does not specify that the State of
the Union address be delivered in person; it can be in the form of
a letter, as was the practice during most of the 19th century.)
Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be
constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that
typically eclipses the power of Congress. The Vice President is
first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate
ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote.
The
members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for
administering the various departments of state, including the
Department of Defense
, the Justice Department
, and the State
Department. These departments and department heads have
considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are
responsible for executing federal laws and regulations.
Cabinet, executive departments, and agencies
The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws is in
the hands of the various
federal executive
departments, created by Congress to deal with specific areas of
national and international affairs. The heads of the 15
departments, chosen by the President and approved with the "advice
and consent" of the U.S. Senate, form a council of advisers
generally known as the President's "Cabinet". In addition to
departments, there are a number of staff organizations grouped into
the
Executive Office
of the President.
These include the White House
staff, the National Security
Council, the Office
of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers,
the Office of the
U.S. Trade
Representative, the
Office of National Drug
Control Policy and the
Office of Science and
Technology Policy. The employees in these United States
government agencies are called
federal civil servants.
There are
also independent
agencies such as the United States Postal Service,
the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the United States
Agency for International Development. In addition, there
are
government-owned
corporations such as the
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation and the
National Railroad
Passenger Corporation.
By law, each agency must submit an annual Section 300 report to the
President's Office of Management and Budget. This is part of a
larger set of more extensive annual requirements called Circular
A-11. Section 300 specifically covers planning, budgeting,
acquisition, and management of capital assets. The details on how
agencies collect and share information and how they are upgrading
and improving their information technology decisions are becoming
increasingly important. Within Section 300 there is a special
exhibit called Exhibit 53 which gives extensive details on agency
information technology investments. These investments make up most
of the information technology investments from the annual budgets.
For the
fiscal year 2008's budget, that
spending exceeds
$66.4
billion.
Judicial branch
The
Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal court
system. The court deals with matters pertaining to the
federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of
the United States Constitution, and can declare legislation or
executive action made at any level of the government as
unconstitutional,
nullifying the law and creating
precedent
for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the
courts of appeals,
and below them in turn are the
district courts, which are the
general trial courts for federal law.
Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court
system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing
with its own laws and having its own court rules and
procedures.
The
supreme court of each state
is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws
and constitution. A case may be appealed from a state court to the
U.S. Supreme Court only if there is a
federal question (an issue
arising under the U.S. Constitution, or laws/treaties of the United
States). The relationship between federal and state laws is
extremely complex and confusing as a result of the unique nature of
American federalism. For example, a state supreme court is bound
only by the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of federal
law, but is
not bound by interpretation of federal law by
the federal court of appeals for the circuit in which the state
sits, or even the federal district courts located in the state.
Conversely, a federal district court hearing a matter involving
only a question of state law (usually through
diversity jurisdiction) must apply
the substantive law of the state in which the court sits, as if the
federal court were a court of that state (but at the same time, the
case is heard under the
Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure instead of local rules, which may be quite
different). Together the laws of the federal and state governments
form
U.S. law.
The federal judiciary consists of the U.S. Supreme Court, whose
justices are appointed for life by the President and confirmed by
the Senate, and various "lower" or "inferior courts," among which
are the courts of appeals and district courts.
The
first Congress
divided the nation into
judicial districts
and created federal courts for each district. From that beginning
has evolved the present structure: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of
appeals, 94 district courts, and two courts of special
jurisdiction. Congress retains the power to create and abolish
federal courts, as well as to determine the number of judges in the
federal judiciary system. It cannot, however, abolish the Supreme
Court.
There are three levels of federal courts with
general
jurisdiction, meaning that these courts handle criminal cases
and civil law suits between individuals. The other courts, such as
the
bankruptcy courts
and the tax court, are specialized courts handling only certain
kinds of cases. The bankruptcy courts are branches of the district
courts, but technically are not considered part of the "
Article III"
judiciary because their judges do not have lifetime tenure.
Similarly, the tax court is not an Article III court.
The U.S. district courts are the "trial courts" where cases are
filed and decided. The United States courts of appeals are
"appellate courts" that hear appeals of cases decided by the
district courts, and some direct appeals from administrative
agencies. The Supreme Court hears appeals from the decisions of the
courts of appeals or state supreme courts (on constitutional
matters), as well as having
original jurisdiction over a very
small number of cases.
The judicial power extends to cases arising under the Constitution,
an
Act of Congress, or a U.S.
treaty; cases affecting
ambassadors,
minister, and
consul of foreign countries in the
U.S.; controversies in which the U.S. government is a party;
controversies between states (or their citizens) and foreign
nations (or their citizens or subjects); and bankruptcy cases. The
Eleventh
Amendment removed from federal jurisdiction cases in which
citizens of one state were the plaintiffs and the government of
another state was the defendant. It did not disturb federal
jurisdiction in cases in which a state government is a plaintiff
and a citizen of another state the defendant.
The power of the federal courts extends both to civil actions for
damages and other redress, and to criminal cases arising under
federal law. Article III has resulted in a complex set of
relationships between state and federal courts. Federal courts can
sometimes hear cases arising under state law pursuant to
diversity jurisdiction, state courts
can decide certain matters involving federal law, and a handful of
federal claims are primarily reserved to the state courts (for
example, those arising from the
Telephone Consumer
Protection Act of 1991). Both court systems thus have
exclusive jurisdiction in some areas
and
concurrent jurisdiction
in others.
The Constitution safeguards judicial independence by providing that
federal judges shall hold office "during good behaviour"; in
practice, this usually means they serve until they die, retire, or
resign. A judge who commits an offence while in office may be
impeached in the same way as the
President or other officials of the federal government. U.S. judges
are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the
Senate. Another Constitutional provision prohibits Congress from
reducing the pay of any judge. Congress is able to set a lower
salary for all future judges that take office after the reduction,
but may not decrease the rate of pay for judges already in
office.
Elections and votings
Suffrage,
commonly known as the ability to vote, has changed significantly
over time. In the early years of the United States, voting was
considered a matter for state governments, and was commonly
restricted to white men who owned land. Direct elections were
mostly held only for the U.S. House of Representatives and state
legislatures, although what specific bodies were elected by the
electorate varied from state to state. Under this original system,
both
senator representing each
state in the U.S. Senate were chosen by a majority vote of the
state legislature. Since the ratification of the
Seventeenth
Amendment in 1913, members of both houses of Congress have been
directly elected.
Today, partially due to the
Twenty-sixth
Amendment, U.S. citizens have almost
universal suffrage from the age of 18,
regardless of race, gender, or wealth, and both Houses of Congress
are directly elected. The only exception to this is the
disenfranchisement of convicted
felons, and in some states former felons as well.
Currently, the national representation of
territories and the federal district of Washington, D.C., in Congress is limited: residents of the
District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes,
but their only congressional representative is a non-voting
delegate. Residents of U.S. territories have varying
rights; for example, only some residents of
Puerto Rico pay federal income taxes (though all
residents must pay all other federal taxes, including import/export
taxes, federal commodity taxes, and federal
payroll taxes, including
Social Security and
Medicare).
State, tribal, and local governments
United States
The state governments tend to have the greatest influence over most
Americans' daily lives. The
Tenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees their
general plenary powers, versus the limited enumerated powers
possessed by the federal government; as a result, they handle the
majority of issues most relevant for most individuals within their
jurisdiction. Because state governments lack the power to print
currency, they must raise revenue either through taxes or bonds
(both of which are politically unpopular). As a result, state
governments tend to impose severe budget cuts at any time the
economy is faltering, which are strongly felt by the public they
are responsible for.
Each state has its own written constitution, government, and code
of laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure
between individual states, concerning issues such as property,
crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each
state is the
Governor.
Each
state also has an elected state
legislature (bicameralism is a
feature of every state except Nebraska
), whose members represent the voters of the
state. Each state maintains its own
state court system. In some states, supreme and
lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are
appointed, as they are in the federal system.
As a result of the Supreme Court case
Worcester v. Georgia,
Indian tribes are
considered "domestic dependent nations" that operate as
sovereign governments subject to federal
authority but, generally and where possible, outside of the
influence of state governments. Hundreds of laws, executive orders,
and court cases have modified the governmental status of tribes
vis-à-vis individual states, but the
two have continued to be recognised as separate bodies. Tribal
capacity to operate robust governments varies, from a simple
council used to manage all aspects of tribal affairs, to large and
complex bureaucracies with several branches of government. Tribes
are empowered to form their own governments, with power resting in
elected tribal councils, elected tribal chairpersons, or
religiously appointed leaders (as is the case with
pueblos). Tribal citizenship (and voting rights) is
generally restricted to individuals of native descent, but tribes
are free to set whatever membership requirements they wish.
The institutions that are responsible for local government in
states are typically town, city, or county boards, water management
districts, fire management districts, library districts, and other
similar governmental units which make laws that affect their
particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the
sale of alcohol, and the keeping of animals. The highest elected
official of a town or city is usually the
mayor.
In New England
, towns operate in a direct democratic fashion, and in some
states, such as Rhode
Island
and Connecticut
, counties have little or no power, existing only as
geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments
have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain
law enforcement
agencies.
See also
- President
- Courts
- Law
- Agencies
- Most agencies are executive, but a few are legislative or
judicial.
- States and territories
- Web site and works
Notes
- US House Official Website
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml Retrieved on 17
August 2008
- Article II,
Constitution of the United States of America
-
Amendment XXII to the United States Constitution
-
Amendment XXIII to the United States Constitution
- Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico do
pay U.S. federal taxes: customs taxes (which are subsequently
returned to the Puerto Rico Treasury) (See
http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/prpage.htm Dept of the Interior,
Office of Insular Affairs.), import/export taxes (See
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827),
federal commodity taxes (See
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/healthcare-industry-policy-article/puerto-rico/267827),
social security taxes (See
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html), etc. Residents pay
federal payroll
taxes, such as Social Security (See
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc903.html) and Medicare (See
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58N5X320090924),
as well as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico income taxes (See
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n19/USNotInnocent-en.html
and http://www.htrcpa.com/businessinpr1.html). All federal
employees (See http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm2338.cfm),
those who do business with the federal government (See
http://www.mcvpr.com/CM/CurrentEvents/CEOsummitarticle.pdf), Puerto
Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S. (See
http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf Page 9, line 1.), and some others
(For example, Puerto Rican residents that are members of the U.S.
military, See http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm2338.cfm;
and Puerto Rico residents who earned income from sources outside
Puerto Rico, See http://www.jct.gov/x-24-06.pdf, pp 14-15.) also
pay federal income taxes. In addition, because the cutoff point for
income taxation is lower than that of the U.S. IRS code, and
because the per-capita income in Puerto Rico is much lower than the
average per-capita income on the mainland, more Puerto Rico
residents pay income taxes to the local taxation authority than if
the IRS code were applied to the island. This occurs because "the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government has a wider set of
responsibilities than do U.S. State and local governments" (See
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-541). As residents of Puerto
Rico pay into Social Security, Puerto Ricans are eligible for
Social Security benefits upon retirement, but are excluded from the
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico residents, unlike residents of
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and residents of
the 50 States, do not receive the SSI. See
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.21/handbook-2114.html),
and the island actually receives less than 15% of the Medicaid funding it would normally
receive if it were a U.S. state. However, Medicare providers
receive less-than-full state-like reimbursements for services
rendered to beneficiaries in Puerto Rico, even though the latter
paid fully into the system (See http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=252).
It has also been estimated (See
http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2007/mar07/07-03-28.html) that,
because the population of the Island is greater than that of 50% of
the States, if it were a state, Puerto Rico would have six to eight
seats in the House, in addition to the two seats in the Senate.(See
http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2007/mar07/07-03-28.html,
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html#
and
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp1109rs5H&refer=&r_n=hr597.110
[Note that for the later, the official US Congress database
website, you will need to resubmit a query. The document in
question is called "House Report 110-597 - PUERTO RICO DEMOCRACY
ACT OF 2007." These are the steps to follow: http://www.thomas.gov
> Committee Reports > 110 > drop down "Word/Phrase" and
pick "Report Number" > type "597" next to Report Number. This
will provide the document "House Report 110-597 - PUERTO RICO
DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2007", then from the Table of Contents choose
"BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION".]). Another misconception is
that the import/export taxes collected by the U.S. on products
manufactured in Puerto Rico are all returned to the Puerto Rico
Treasury. This is not the case. Such import/export taxes are
returned only for rum products, and even then the US
Treasury keeps a portion of those taxes (See the "House Report
110-597 - PUERTO RICO DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2007" mentioned above.
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