Three Branches Of Government Essay

Since the day that we were born, we were taught that all branches of the United States government have equal powers. The government, our teachers, and the media all try to drill it in our heads that not one branch has a higher power than the others, but in real life, they are wrong. If any human being would take the time to look into the fine details of our government, they would find out how deceiving the United States government actually is. The United States government has three “branches” of government, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. In my opinion, the Executive branch holds the most power out of all of the branches.

The Legislative branch is made from Article I in the Constitution and consists of the Congress. Within the Congress, there are the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main job of the legislative branch is to make the laws. They have the power to pass the law. The Senate has the power to approve treaties and impeach officials. The House of Representatives

has the power to originate spending bills. Article I, section 8 states, “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.” The legislative branch may have power, but they do not use it in an effective way.
The president, currently Barrack Obama, runs the Executive branch. Article II of the Constitution contains the Executive branch. The main responsibility of the Executive branch is to carry out the laws. The president can recommend new laws and has the power to veto the laws that the legislative branch passes. Obama can discharge or appoint public officials and cabinet members. The cabinet contains fifteen departments of the government and they help the president with important issues. Currently, the Cabinet contains members from secretary of State, Treasury, Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Education, Veterans' Affairs, Energy, and the Attorney General. The president is also in charge of directing the national defense and foreign policies. Article II, section 8 states, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”I The President holds more power than we can ever imagine of having.
When the United States decided to make three branches of government they came up with a system known as checks and balances.

This is one of the more important parts of the constitution. Checks and balances were made so that the power was divided between the three branches and to not allow one branch to become more powerful than the other. All three branches of the government have the ability to check in on each other and limit the power of the other branches. One example of checks and balances is when the congress passes a bill, they send it to the president to sign, but if he doesn’t like it he can veto the bill. The bill then goes back to the congress and they can override it, but they have to have a two-thirds vote to do so. By doing this, both the legislative and executive branch are limiting each other’s power. The executive branch can check on congress by using optional powers in decisions about the making of military bases and improvement of highways and

more.
The legislative branch used to have the most power out of the three, but the power has switched around to the executive branch, mostly because of the executive orders. An official definition of executive orders is “a presidential policy directive that implements or interprets a federal statue, a constitutional provision, or a treaty.” The president can basically do whatever he wants with executive orders now because they do not require approval of the Congress. In the past, presidents usually used executive power for a look inside the operation of federal agencies and administrative issues. Now the president uses executive orders to move along programs and legislative policies. Also, the president can get issues accomplished with the executive orders faster than congress could do anything. Congress is technically the only one who can declare war, but the president goes around that rule and sends troops and supplies in without officially calling it a war, so he gets away with it. He can enforce limited armed conflict without the approval of the Congress. The president has gained a lot of power just from the executive orders.
According to Article I, Section 3, “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.”i The Vice President may not have a vote on all situations, but when he gets the opportunity to break the tie his vote is more powerful than anyone’s. Also, by being the President of the Senate, he is probably the most powerful and influential member of the Senate. The executive branch has someone in part of the legislative branch so they could probably influence the members of the senate on how to vote or deal with the situation, which could make a huge difference on how things play out.
A huge way to gain power and popularity today is through all types of media. The executive branch takes full advantage of the media by speeches, press conferences, social media, etc. When I turn on the television, listen to the radio, or check twitter I usually see something about the president. I barely ever hear anything about the legislative branch. To gain the popularity of the people, you have to put yourself out there and influence them in some way. The people of the United States like to be informed and they like to be informed quickly. The true power behind our government is the citizens. If you have the power of the people behind you, you are unstoppable.
Even though the congress does the budget, the executive branch does most of the government spending. The president has some say on where the money goes. Obama can sometimes change the direction of the money and spend it on another issue or program. Also, the congress takes forever and a day to get things accomplished, but the executive branch is usually pretty speedy at getting things done.
The executive and legislative branch both have an extreme amount of power, but if you dig deep down and look at the details, the executive branch will come out on top with most of the power. The extreme power of the executive branch is proven by the executive orders, the popularity with the media and the people, the spot of president in the senate, the quickness, and much more.