ixed government we contend for, the ministers, at least of the executive power, are responsible for every instance of the exercise of it; and if they dispose of a single commission by corruption, they are responsible to a house of representatives, who may, by impeachment, make them responsible before a senate, where they may be accused, tried, condemned, and punished, by independent judges.” (Isaak 2004:103-104) So the system of checks and balances was established and became an important part of the U.S. Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch is too powerful. Each branch “checks” the powers of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them. The major checks possessed by each branch are listed below.
- Can check the president in these ways:
- By refusing to pass a bill the president wants
- By passing a law over the president’s veto
- By using the impeachment powers to remove the president from office
- By refusing to approve a presidential appointment (Senate only)
- By refusing to ratify a treaty the president has signed (Senate only)
- Can check the federal courts in these ways:
- By changing the number and jurisdiction of the lower courts
- By using the impeachment powers to remove a judge from office
- By refusing to approve a person nominated to be a judge (Senate only)
- Can check Congress by vetoing a bill it has passed
- Can check the federal courts by nominating judges
- Can check Congress by declaring a law unconstitutional
- Can check the president by declaring actions by him or his subordinates to be unconstitutional or not authorized by law
By distributing the essential powers of the government among three separate but interdependent branches, the Constitutional framers ensured that the principal powers of the government, legislative, executive and judicial, were not concentrated in the hands of any single branch. Allocating governmental authority among three separate branche