Congress and the Separation of Powers

Why does the U.S. Constitution separate the government into three branches? At the nation’s founding, the Constitution’s framers understood that executive, legislative, and judicial responsibilities differed, and they provided for these distinct functions. They also believed that concentrating authority in one body would result in tyranny. They therefore divided the government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, so that no single part would become too strong, and empowered each to limit or “check” the powers of the others. This exhibit examines Congress’s unique role and the ways in which it can balance or dynamically shape and challenge the powers of other two branches.

Congress and the Judicial Branch: Jurisdiction

The Constitution stipulates that “the judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may . . . establish,” but leaves the details of organization and authority for Congress to decide through legislation. How large is the Supreme Court and what is its jurisdiction? What kinds of cases must it hear? How many inferior courts are needed? Congress has used its constitutional authority to address these essential questions.

Oliver Ellsworth and Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth (detail), oil on canvas by Ralph Earl, 1792

H.R. 605, An Act to amend . . . “An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States,” . . . (Habeas Corpus Act of 1867), July 25, 1866

“United States Expansion and the Railroads, 1880” map, The American Nation, Vol., 23, 1907

Judiciary Act of 1801, April 8, 1800

Circuit Court allotment order for February term, 1801

U.S. Supreme Court, photograph, 1923

Congress and the Judicial Branch: Composition

The president nominates Supreme Court justices, but the Senate has the sole power to confirm those appointments. The confirmation process has changed over time, but Congress’s capacity to shape the judiciary continues to be an important check on that interpretive body, as does its power to impeach and try members of the federal judiciary for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. These powers have elicited some of the most dramatic moments in congressional history.

Clement F. Haynsworth Jr., Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Nomination to . . . the Supreme Court, photograph by Warren K. Leffler, 1969

Samuel Chase, 1741–1811, oil on canvas by Charles Wilson Peale, ca. 1773

Justice Louis D. Brandeis, photograph by Harris & Ewing, n.d.

Letter from President George Washington to John Rutledge, July 1, 1795

President Calvin Coolidge’s message nominating Harlan Fiske Stone as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, January 5, 1925

Robert Bork at Senate Confirmation Hearing, photograph, September 1987

Congress and the Judicial Branch: Negotiation

Congress creates laws; the Supreme Court interprets those laws in the context of legal disputes and rules on their constitutionality. Congress can change the courts’ size, structure, and jurisdiction. The two branches have sometimes disagreed on issues, each questioning the actions of the other, but have also found common ground, building on and reinforcing each other’s work. This constitutional dialogue between those who write our laws and those who interpret them is central to the U.S. system of checks and balances.

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, front page, June 27, 1857

At the Bus Station in Durham, North Carolina, photograph by Jack Delano, May 1940

Vue de la ville de Savannah, du camp, des tranchées et de l'attaque Octobre 1779, wash drawing by Pierre Ozanne, 1779

Girl carrying a globe with a fat businessman sitting on top, drawing, ca. 1912

Congress and the Executive Branch: Nominations and Appointments

This all-important check upon the president’s power gives the Senate influence over the composition of the executive and judicial branches. Although the Senate has confirmed the vast majority of presidential nominations, its consideration of nominees has produced some notable confrontations between the legislature and the chief executive. This advice-and-consent role is one of the most significant constitutional checks on the presidency.

Yes, You Gave Me Authority to Pick My Kind of Umpire Last November! drawing by Clifford Berryman, June 9, 1937

Roger B. Taney, photograph, n.d.

And Why, Pray Tell, Do You Want to Stop Me? drawing by Herbert Block, June 4, 1959

President George H. W. Bush’s message nominating John Goodwin Tower as Secretary of Defense, January 20, 1989

U.S. Supreme Court, photograph, 1937

A motion to amend the resolution to strike out "President" and insert "Vice President now exercising the office of President," May 31, 1841

Congress and the Executive Branch: Balancing Power

Congress is the central law-making body to which the executive and judicial branches respond. Congress writes and debates the laws that govern the United States, and it can override presidential vetoes. The Senate’s advice-and-consent power over treaties and both chambers’ important role in amending the Constitution also indicate the legislature’s essential role in the nation’s representative government.

Senators Prominent in League of Nations Debate, collage of photographs from Harris & Ewing, July 3, 1919

S. 3771, A bill authorizing the President to coordinate or consolidate executive bureaus, agencies, and offices… (Overman Act), March 18, 1918

Thrice Presented Him a Kingly Crown, drawing by Fred O. Seibel, July 19, 1940

Petition from California residents to Senators William Knowland and Sheridan Downey against the Taft-Hartley Act, ca. 1947

President Richard Nixon Points to a Map of Cambodia during a Vietnam War Press Conference, photograph by Jack E. Kighlinger, April 30, 1970

Message from President George Washington requesting that the Senate meet to advise him on . . . the treaty . . . with the Southern Indians, August 21, 1789

Congress and the Executive Branch: Investigations

The nation’s founders, mindful of human nature and the potentially corrupting effects of power, anticipated congressional oversight of the federal government. In addition to investigating misuse of federal funds and abuses of power, Congress also gathers information needed to create new legislation. The power to investigate is one of Congress’s most important tools for developing effective public policy, conducting oversight, and informing the public.

Statement of the packages, supposed to contain the Certificates of the Electoral Votes for the President . . . of the United States, 1877

Time Magazine, cover illustration by Jack Davis, April 30, 1973

Senator William Fulbright of Arkansas (left) with Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing . . ., photograph by Warren K. Leffler, 1966

Handwritten Final Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, ca. 1865–1866

Copy of letter from General Douglas MacArthur to Representative Joseph William Martin Jr. of Massachusetts, March 20, 1951

Memorandum from Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, February 21, 1868

The President and Major General George B. McClellan on the Battlefield of Antietam, photograph by Alexander Gardner, October 3, 1862

Chronology of Efforts Made by Senator McCarthy . . . to Put Pressure on the Army . . . , by John Adams, March 11, 1954

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