musing on checks & balances

[eirias]

It occurred to me recently that something in our checks and balances system isn't particularly balanced. The executive branch exerts power over the judicial branch through appointing judges. The judicial branch exerts power over the legislative branch by overturning laws. But what power does the legislative branch hold over the executive branch? They have impeachments, and ... that's it. I mean, I guess that's a pretty big power, but it's much harder to exercise than the powers held by the other two branches. Should they have more?

I was thinking of this in the context of the history of presidential elections; I had thought that it was originally federal legislators from each state that picked the president. But no; that was only in the case of no majority in the EC (though Wikipedia suggests that the founders may have thought this would happen in most elections). Originally it was *state* legislators that picked electors, thereby influencing the vote. And that's not really the same.

Any structure-of-government nerds have thoughts on this?

Comments

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

The power of the legislature over the executive was meant to be implicit: The executive can obviously only execute the laws the legislature actually makes, and has no powers (apart from those granted by the constitution itself, which are small) to take action without a particular grant of authority form the legislature.

Thus, the executive branch agencies -- the various cabinet departments and whatnot -- are all legislative creations. The FCC was created by congress. Congress created and budgets the State Department. And so forth. Their powers are defined by and controlled by the legislature. The legislature could abolish the Department of Commerce tomorrow if it liked, entirely annihilating all the executive power inherent in administering that department.

Of course, both sources of executive authority (constitutional powers like the Commander in Chief power, legislative delegations like the various federal agencies) have been stretched tremendously. But that has mostly been with the apathy or even active connivance of the legislature. The check and balance remains: The executive's powers have to come from somewhere, and mostly where they come from is acts of congress.