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COVID-19 (coronavirus) Update

The Capitol Visitor Center will be closed for tours beginning Thursday, March 12th at 4:30 p.m. All tours are cancelled. We expect to reopen for tours Friday, May 1st at 8:30 a.m. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we look forward to welcoming you to the Capitol Visitor Center at a future date.

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Current Exhibition

Congress and the Judicial Branch: Jurisdiction Judiciary Act of 1801, April 8, 1800 The Constitution’s framers created an independent judicial branch, but Congress and the president retain significant power to shape the courts.
Congress and the Judicial Branch: Composition We’ve Explained that We Picked Him Because He’s a Moderate, drawing by Herbert Block [Herblock], September 23, 1987 Supreme Court decisions have far-reaching consequences, so the appointment of a justice may affect the law for decades.
Congress and the Judicial Branch: Negotiation Twelve-year-old Girl in Vermont Cotton Mill, photograph by Lewis Hine, 1910 Congress and the federal courts have unique but complementary powers as defined by the Constitution.
Congress and the Executive Branch: Nominations and Appointments Senate Vote Tally Sheet for John Goodwin Tower’s Nomination to be Secretary of Defense, March 9, 1989 The Constitution authorizes the president of the United States to appoint individuals to executive and judicial offices with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Congress and the Executive Branch: Balancing Power “Iron-fisted Breach,” drawing by Jerry Costello, Knickerbocker News, April 23, 1952 Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution declares that “all legislative Powers” are “vested in a Congress of the United States.”
Congress and the Executive Branch: Investigations “The Senate as a Court of Impeachment for the Trial of Andrew Johnson,” wood engraving by Theodore R. Davis, Harper’s Weekly, April 11, 1868 Congress’s oversight authority is an implied, but vital, constitutional power.

Past Exhibitions

Exploration Exploration The Congress shall have Power To ... promote the Progress of Science
Common Defense Common Defense The Congress shall have Power To ... provide for the common Defense
Unity Unity We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union... do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Freedom Freedom Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...
General Welfare General Welfare The Congress shall have Power To ... provide for the ... general Welfare
Knowledge Knowledge The Congress shall have Power To ... promote ... useful Arts
Debating the Wars Debating the Wars We are going to war . . . to vindicate our honor and to maintain our independence as a great nation. We are going to war . . . in defense of humanity.
Funding the Wars Funding the Wars We act with the belief that the debt we are about to incur, stupendous though it is, is no greater than this, the greatest Republic of all time, owes to human civilization.
Fighting the Wars Fighting the Wars If it were possible to raise a sufficient number of men by voluntary enlistment and they would come from all sections in equal percentages the selective service might not be necessary.
National Loyalty National Loyalty When this country made its decision and went into this war, it was the duty of every American citizen to loyally support the Government of the United States in the prosecution of the war.
World War I: A World Transformed World War I: A World Transformed World War I ended several empires and shifted international boundaries.
World War I: A Nation Transformed World War I: A Nation Transformed Though World War I was fought overseas, it also shaped the U.S. home front.
World War II: A World Transformed World War II: A World Transformed At the end of World War II, the United States emerged as a global superpower.
World War II: A Nation Transformed World War II: A World Transformed World War II presented Congress with new and unique challenges in the postwar years.
Congress and the Judicial Branch: Jurisdiction Congress and the Judicial Branch: Jurisdiction The Constitution’s framers created an independent judicial branch, but Congress and the president retain significant power to shape the courts.
Congress and the Judicial Branch: Composition Congress and the Judicial Branch: Composition Supreme Court decisions have far-reaching consequences, so the appointment of a justice may affect the law for decades.
Congress and the Judicial Branch: Negotiation Congress and the Judicial Branch: Negotiation Congress and the federal courts have unique but complementary powers as defined by the Constitution.
Congress and the Executive Branch: Nominations and Appointments Congress and the Executive Branch: Nominations and Appointments The Constitution authorizes the president of the United States to appoint individuals to executive and judicial offices with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Congress and the Executive Branch: Balancing Power Congress and the Executive Branch: Balancing Power Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution declares that “all legislative Powers” are “vested in a Congress of the United States.”
Congress and the Executive Branch: Investigations Congress and the Executive Branch: Investigations Congress’s oversight authority is an implied, but vital, constitutional power.