2015-08-21
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Congress can check both the executive and judicial branches. Congress has many checks over the executive branch. These include the power to:
• override the president's veto.
• approve all federal appointments made by the president.
• approve treaties the president makes with other countries.
• approve the president's budget.
• impeach a federal official, including the president.
In 1868, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson, because he allegedly blocked reform in the South after the Civil War. The Senate later acquitted President Johnson. The vote was close for President Johnson. If one more senator had voted yes, he would have been removed from office.
In 1974, over 100 years later, the House of Representatives was again deciding if the president should be impeached. This time the president was Richard Nixon. President Nixon left office. He did not want to test the House's impeachment powers.
A committee of the House of Representatives holds hearings. Then the committee reports its findings to the whole House. The House of Representatives then votes on the impeachment. A federal official impeached by the House of Representatives stands trial in the Senate. The Senate sits as the jury. The Senate may vote to remove the official from office. It takes a two-thirds majority to do this.
A federal official removed from office may be tried in a federal court for any crimes committed while in office.
Congress must approve all federal judge appointments. Congress also has the power to impeach a federal judge. The House of Representatives has voted to impeach ten federal judges. Five of these men were removed from office by the Senate. All appointments of federal judges are looked at closely by Congress. Most are approved. Once in a while, federal judge appointments run into trouble. President Bush (Junior) for example, had one
Supreme Court appointment turned down by the Senate because the person was considered not fit for the job. Congress has the power to change the number of federal judges.
Congress also has the power to decide on the salaries of federal judges. Congress can amend the Constitution. This happened with the 16th Amendment.
Amending the Constitution does not happen very often though.
